Dyadic distress management predicts subsequent security of attachment

INFANT

BEHAVIOR

AND

DEVELOPMENT

16,

131-147

(1993)

Dyadic Distress Management Predicts Subsequent Security of Attachment REBECCA National

DEL CARMEN Institutes

of

Health

FRANK A. PEDERSEN University

of Delaware

LYNNE C. HUFFMAN National

Institute

of Mental

Health

YVONNE E. BRYAN Purdue

University

The purpose of this study wos to examine methodologically independent infant, moternol, and dyodic variables to predict security of attachment. The subjects were 52 mothers and their firstborn infants from middleto upper-middle-class backgrounds. Prenotol ossessment of maternal characteristics included meosures of depression, anxiety, ond self-efficacy. Infant characteristics were ossessed via a standardized laboratory procedure at 3 months of age. Dyadic behaviors were observed in the home also at 3 months of age. At 12 months of age, security of attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation procedure. Results Indicate that prenatal maternal anxiety and dyadic behaviors involving distress monogement were the best predictors of security of attachment. This study provides support for the role of maternal characteristics measured in the prenatal period as well as mother-infant dyadic patterns involving distress management in determining subsequent security of attachment.

attachment

distress

management

prenatal

anxiety

The importance of understanding the predictors of a secure attachment is highlighted by a body of research demonstrating consistent associations between infant attachment patterns and subsequent socioemotional developThis research was HD-07167) to the first and Human Development, Valerie Simon, and and Carolyn Eichberg Correspondence Adolescent Disorders Lane,

Room

IgC-17,

supported, in part, author for postdoctoral NIH. Bethesda,

Susan Young far scoring and requests Research Rockville.

by

a National Research Service Award (NRSA; study at the National Institutes of Child Health MD. We wish to acknowledge Gary Rosengarten,

for their assistance in collecting the the tapes. for reprints should be sent to Rebecca Branch, NIMH, National Institutes MD

data, Del of

and

Virginia

Colin

Carmen, Child and Health. 5600 Fishers

20857.

131

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ment in early childhood (Joffe & Vaughn, 1982; Lamb, 1987). An early study conducted by Ainsworth, Blehar, Walters, and Wall (1978) suggested that maternal sensitivity in response to the infant’s distress signals in the first year is a critical determinant of security of attachment. Thus, management of distress in the mother-infant dyad is posited as central to the development of a secure attachment. This line of theorizing conceives of the adult, within normal limits of human experience, as having the balance of power in determining the attachment outcome. There have been attempts to replicate the findings (Belsky, Rovine, & Taylor, 1984; Crockenberg & McCluskey, 1986; Crockenberg & Smith, 1982; Grossman, Grossman, Spangler, Suess, and Unzner, 1985). However, some controversy exists regarding the clarity of evidence for the relation between maternal sensitivity and attachment (Lamb, Thompson, Gardner, & Charnov, 1985; Sroufe, 1985). One reason for a lack of clarity in our understanding of maternal influences on attachment outcomes is that maternal measures often are confounded by infant characteristics. In their recent meta-analytic review of predictors of attachment, Goldsmith and Alansky (1987) concluded that the maternal measures of most studies they reviewed “are not solely a function of the mother” (p. 814). In virtually all of the studies included in their analyses, maternal characteristics were assessed after the birth of the infant or in interaction with the infant. In these designs, maternal measures may be confounded by infant characteristics or may be thought of as indices of interactive behavior rather than maternal personality or sensitivity. A more precise test of the hypothesis of maternal sensitivity affecting attachment outcomes should involve appraisals of the mother that are, as far as possible, methodologically independent of her infant. If psychological characteristics conceptually relevant to sensitive mothering can be identified prenatally, and these factors predict subsequent attachment quality, stronger inferences can be advanced for maternal influences on attachment. Such empirical findings also would be consistent with broader theoretical formulations by Bowlby (1973) implicating parental psychological factors in the transmission of a secure attachment relationship to one’s offspring. A small number of investigations have attempted to identify prenatal maternal influences that impact directly on attachment with a design employing prenatal assessments (Belsky & Isabella, 1988; Crockenberg & McCluskey, 1986; Egeland & Farber, 1984; Spieker & Booth, 1988). Results from this limited body of research appear inconsistent. Whereas Egeland and Farber (1984) found no significant multivariate effects of prenatal characteristics in their study of economically disadvantaged primiparous women, others have found that prenatal markers of maternal responsiveness (Crockenberg & McCluskey, 1986), personality factors such as ego strength and interpersonal affection (Belsky & Isabella, 1988), and depression (Spieker & Booth, 1988) have differentiated attachment groups. One reason for the inconsistency of findings is that the subjects of those

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studies are of varying social and economic backgrounds. Two of those studies included socially or economically disadvantaged samples (Egeland & Farber, 1984; Spieker & Booth, 1988), one study was on a middle-class sample (Belsky & Isabella, 1988), and in the fourth study, one half of the families were middle class and the remaining families were working class (Crockenberg & McCluskey, 1986). There is not only a sparseness of findings, but also ,it is not known whether the findings generalize to the middle class. One purpose of this study was to pursue the problem of assessing the influence of maternal personality on attachment outcomes via prenatal assessments in a normal, middle-class, nonclinic sample. Some studies have shown that maternal prenatal personality, including depression, anxiety, and ego functioning, can influence postnatal functioning (Field et al., 1985; Heinicke, Diskin, Ramsey-Klee, & Given, 1983) and that more severe affective disturbance is associated with a decreased proportion of secure attachments in infants (D’Angelo, 1986; Radke-Yarrow, Cummings, Kuczynski, & Chapman, 1985). Therefore, this study was designed, in part, to assess the influence of prenatal anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy on infant attachment. The scientific debate surrounding attachment research also includes a rival hypothesis that infant characteristics are the primary determinants of later differences in security of attachment (Bates, Maslin, & Frankel, 1985; Goldsmith & Campos, 1982; Kagan, 1982). Of two variations on that view (Goldsmith, Bradshaw, & Rieser-Danner, 1986). one is that temperament influences attachment behavior directly (Campos, Barrett, Lamb, Goldsmith, & Stenberg, 1983; Kagan, 1982; Plomin, 1983; Thompson & Lamb, 1982). A second view is that temperamental characteristics moderate mother-infant dyadic patterns which, in turn, more directly determine variations in security of attachment (Goldsmith et al., 1986). At present, there is little empirical evidence to choose between the two. Infant characteristics most often implicated with attachment outcome include difficultness, proneness to distress, and negative affect. These variables usually are defined by parent ratings of fussiness and difficultness or observations of fussing and crying. Findings from studies assessing the amount of early fussing and crying in relation to subsequent attachment patterns are provocative but inconsistent. For example, Belsky et al. (1984) reported that insecurely attached infants scored higher on frequencies of fussing and crying in home observations of interactive behavior at ages 3 and 9 months. However, others have reported that insecurely attached infants are perceived by independent raters as less negative in affect or less fussy in the first 6 months of life (Bradshaw, Goldsmith, & Campos, 1987; Kiser, Bates, Maslin, & Bayles, 1986). Similarly, Belsky and Isabella (1988) reported that securely attached infants were viewed in parent rating scales as less adaptable and predictable at 3 months than the insecurely attached infants, a difference that diminished by 6 months. Also, they reported data suggesting that those infants who subsequently developed secure attachments exhibited more fuss/

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cry behaviors in mother-infant interactions at 3 months than those who developed insecure attachments, although the difference was not quite significant. A second purpose of this study was to examine the relation of infant temperament, measured in a standardized laboratory procedure, to variations in security of attachment. Observational procedures decrease the potential confound of maternal biases found in parent report instruments. Clearly, methodologically independent appraisals of both maternal and infant characteristics must be done before there can be some sharpening of our understanding of the degree to which each domain exerts main effects or shows interactions on attachment outcomes. Only a few studies have focused on understanding the complex interactional processes of maternal and infant variables that may predict variations in attachment (Belsky & Rovine, 1987; Crockenberg & McCluskey, 1986; Mangelsdorf. Gunnar, Kestenbaum, Lang, & Andreas, 1990; Thompson, 1986). Nevertheless, results from these few studies have been promising. For example, Mangelsdorf et al. (1990) did not find direct effects of infant proneness to distress or maternal personality measured after birth of the infant on attachment. Rather, attachment security was predicted from an interaction of infant. and maternal characteristics, with maternal personality (a constraint factor involving rigidity, traditionalism, and risk taking) being a crucial factor for infants high on temperamental proneness to distress. According to an interactional perspective on the emergence of attachment, variations in security evolve as a function of individual differences in infant characteristics that allow clear signaling behavior and maternal responsiveness to those signals. “Attachment behaviors” refer precisely to those behaviors through which an infant promotes proximity to, and contact with, the caregiver (Ainsworth, 1967; Bowlby, 1958, 1969). Crying is identified as one of the most salient attachment behaviors and the human infant is similar to newborns of other species in its ability to emit vocal signals that activate maternal behavior (Bell & Ainsworth, 1972). Thus, infant crying serves as a stimulus for what becomes a complex interactional system through which infant and caregiver build their relationship. Viewed from this perspective, we believe those studies that report higher infant crying in the early months among subsequently securely attached infants in comparison to their insecure counterparts are particularly informative (Belsky & Isabella, 1988; Bradshaw et al., 1987; Kiser et al., 1986). In these studies, the more frequent crying patterns may be a reflection of the competence of the infants in signaling and maintaining the early contact with, and stimulation from, their caregivers, which is essential for the achievement of a secure attachment.’ In light of ’ We are likely soothing

would distinguish to show prolonged efforts.

these and

infants from unremitting

those crying

classified as “difficult,” however. and be particularly unresponsive

The latter to parental

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these findings, a final purpose of this study is to assess the hypothesis that attachment relationships evolve as a function of early mother-infant dyadic patterns consisting of distress management behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we utilized observations of mother-infant dyadic behaviors, specifically those involving signals of distress on the part of the infant and the provision of comfort and contact on the part of the mother, in relation to security of attachment. To summarize, this study utilized methodologically independent measures of infant and maternal characteristics as well as observations of mother-infant dyadic behavior in relation to security of attachment. Parental characteristics were assessed prenatally utilizing self-report questionnaires. Infant temperament was assessed using a standardized laboratory procedure. Behavioral observations were obtained of mother and infant interacting with one another at home. Using this multilevel approach, we assessed the following questions: 1. Can prenatal maternal psychological characteristics predict subsequent security of attachment? 2. Do infant characteristics measured in a standardized laboratory procedure, independent of maternal report, predict subsequent security of attachment? 3. Do dyadic patterns of interaction relevant to contact maintenance and distress management between mother and infant predict security of attachment? 4. Relative to one another, which are the best predictors of attachment?

METHOD Subjects

Subjects consisted of 52 mothers and their firstborn infants recruited for a larger longitudinal investigation on the transition to parenthood.’ Initially, 67 mothers were recruited during pregnancy (28th through 32nd week) and the study followed 52 mother-infant dyads through the first year of the child’s life. Fifteen subjects were unable to participate in the 1Zmonth assessment. The majority of these subjects moved, became pregnant, or had other circumstances that did not permit their full participation. All participants were recruited through newspaper announcements and prenatal classes. All families were two-parent. Mothers had a mean age of 29.9 years (SD = 3.4) and a mean length of marriage of 3.6 years (SD = 2.2). Subjects were middle to upper middle class (determined by number of years of education; M = 16.8, SD = 2.2), and were predominantly Caucasian. ’ Procedures that included physiological

were part of the larger investigation, measurement of the mother and

but less relevant infant and assessment

to these analyses, of the father.

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BRYAN

Prenatal and Early Infant Procedures The procedures on which these analyses are based included assessment of prenatal maternal characteristics that were administered to the mother between the 30th and 34th weeks of the pregnancy. When the infants were 3 months old, the mothers and infants were seen in the laboratory and at home. Observations of behavioral interactions between mother and infant were made in the home; behavioral observations of the infant were made in the laboratory. Prenatal Maternal Questionnaires. An increasing number of studies suggest that affective disorders in mothers constitute a significant risk factor for their children (Billings & Moos, 1983; Rutter & Quinton, 1984; Weissman et al., 1984). DeMulder and Radke-Yarrow (1991) reported that a greater proportion of children of bipolar depressed mothers were classified as insecurely attached compared to their counterparts of nondepressed mothers. Research shows that even mild to moderate maternal distress can interfere with caretaking skills and increase the likelihood for more negative childhood outcomes (Dumas, Gibson, & Albin, 1989). Our reasoning was that depression, anxiety, and feelings about the self in the parental role would be involved in the transmission of a secure attachment relationship, and that . measuring these variables in the prenatal period would avoid their confounding with characteristics of the infant. The prenatal questionnaires included: (1) The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961), a 21-item questionnaire measuring depression. Scores correlate well with clinician ratings of severity of depression, with behavioral ratings of depression, and with other self-report measures of depression (Rehm, 1988); (2) The trait version of rhe State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Goursuch, & Lashene, 1970). This is a 20-item self-report instrument with good psychometric properties, which also has been used with other studies of mild postpartum depression (Field et al., 1985); (3) Self-Efficacy (SE) Questionnaire, a scale developed for this study, adapted from Gibaud-Wallston and Wandersman’s (1978) parental Senses of Competence scale. It contains 16 items such as “I can trust my feelings and intuitions about taking care of a baby,” or “I feel I can catch on very quickly to the basic skills of caring for a baby.” Responses are made on Likert scales, with items appearing in both a positive and negative direction. Pedersen, Bryan, Huffman, and Del Carmen (1989) reported a test-retest reliability over a 5-month interval of .63 @ < .Ol) and that the scale correlates negatively with anxiety (r = - .49, p < .Ol). 3-Month Infant Assessments. A standardized laboratory assessment of the 3-month-old infant was employed to provide an objective and independent measure of the infant. While the mothers observed through a one-way mirror,

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the Behavioral Responsiveness Paradigm (Garcia-Co11 et al., 1988) was administered to the infant in an adjacent room. This procedure was selected because it is one of the few laboratory assessment procedures of temperament appropriate for the 3-month age group (Wilson & Matheny, 1986). Also, the procedure eliminates biases of parental personality characteristics inherent in parent rating scales of temperament (Vaughn, Deinard, & Egeland, 1980) and yet it has concurrent validity with a widely used parent report questionnaire of full-term infants (Garcia-Co11 et al., 1988). Garcia-Co11 et al. reported that positive and negative affect, sociability, and soothability in this procedure correlates with parental ratings of fussy and difficult, dull, and unadaptable temperament on the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury, 1979) for preterm infants. The procedure consists of a series of 17 vignettes in which the infant is presented, in a fixed order, various visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. The procedure, lasting approximately 15 min, was videotaped and subsequently tapes were coded with respect to five clusters: positive and negative responsiveness, sociability, soothability, and overall activity. Criteria were specified by Garcia-Co11 et al. (1988). Ten subjects were assessed for intercoder reliability. One cluster (overall activity) was eliminated from subsequent analyses because it failed to show adequate intercoder reliability. Reliability of the remaining clusters ranged from .70 to 1.0, and the mean cluster reliability computed with a z-score transformation was .97 (McNemar, 1969). Home Observation of Dyadic Interaction. Observations of mother-infant interaction were conducted in each family’s home at 12-13 weeks. Each observation was 1 hr. Procedures involved time sampling, using preestablished behavior categories based on previous research (Pedersen, Anderson, & Cain, 1980; Pedersen, Suwalsky, Cain, Zaslow, & Rabinovich, 1987; Zaslow, Rabinovich, Suwalsky. & Klein, 1988). Past research with this method supports its usefulness; median interobserver reliability of the dyadic behavioral categories is .92. The time-sampling procedure involved a 10-s observe period followed immediately by a 20-s record period. Each behavior had a possible frequency of between 0 and 120 for each observation. Data were collected using a Tandy 102 portable computer and later uploaded to a personal computer for analysis. Observations were made in the daytime during a period when the infant typically was expected to be awake. Given the characteristic duration of awake periods at this age, it was usual for the observations to include a feeding, other caregiving activities, and time for social play. Observations were structured to the mother as a “sampling of your baby’s experience in the home environment.” The mother was encouraged to go about her normal routine and, as much as possible, ignore the observer’s presence. We drew upon past observational studies to define the behaviors of great-

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est conceptual interest. Infant irritability and sociability have been associated with variations in mother-infant interaction and subsequent attachment outcomes (Belsky et al., 1984; Blehar, Lieberman, & Ainsworth, 1977; Lewis & Feiring, 1989). Another hypothesis was based on work by Lewis and Feiring (1989). They differentiated between person- and object-oriented interactions at 3 months in determining security of attachment, with object-oriented infants showing more insecure (avoidant) attachments at 12 months. Furthermore, interactions involving signals of distress on the part of the infant and providing comfort on the part of the mother are central to the antecedents of a secure attachment from an ethological perspective (Bowlby, 1969). Therefore, for the analyses, three summary variables were formed from the behavior categories based on groupings suggested by previous research (Belsky et al., 1984; Kiser et al., 1986; Lewis & Feiring, 1989; Zaslow et al., 1988). These summary variables include: (1) Social/affective interaction (infant smile, infant positive vocalization, mother smile, mother positive vocalization, and mother positive affect); (2) object-oriented interaction (infant explore object, mother object stimulate); and (3) distress management interaction (infant fuss, infant cry, mother calm/soothe in response to distress). The three summary variables account for 10 of 22 categories observed; these 10 were the most relevant to hypotheses concerning attachment formation’. Summary variables were derived by computing and summing z scores based on individual infant and maternal variables. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated for each summary variable (.62 for social/affective, .52 for objectoriented, and .79 for distress management interactions). Interrater reliability was obtained by having two independent observers concurrently code behaviors of 10 families. Interrater reliability coefficients for each summary variable are the following: social/affective interaction, .85; object-oriented interaction, .99; distress management interaction, .93. Assessment of Infant Attachment

When the infants were 12 to 13 months of age, each mother-infant dyad was observed in the laboratory using the Ainsworth and Wittig (1969) Strange Situation. The standardized procedure was adhered to, including an introductory period and a series of seven episodes, each lasting 3 min, in which mothers are briefly separated from their infants twice. The procedure was conducted in a laboratory playroom equipped, and of the same size, as specified by Ainsworth et al. (1978). Each observation was videotaped through a one-way mirror. The videotapes were coded by a rater blind to the subjects’ scores on all other measures, using coding and classification based on the system outlined by Ainsworth et al. and Main and Solomon (1986). Interobserver reliability was obtained by asking a second rater to classify 38% (n = 20) of the tapes. Both observers were trained by Mary Ainsworth. Interobserver agreement between the standard coder and the second rater initially

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was below 80%; adjustments in coding were made by the standard coder and 100% agreement was reached. The coder then rated the entire sample. Proportion of subjects in each classification included 10 insecure/avoidant (19%), 31 secure (60%), 1 insecure/resistant (2%), and 10 disorganized/ unclassifiable (19%). Because the insecure subgroups were small, we followed the precedent of Vaughn, Deane, and Waters (1985) and Mangelsdorl et al. (1990) who combined insecure subgroups.

RESULTS The goal of these analyses were to identify the maternal, infant, and dyadicinteractive predictors of attachment, and to assess which predictors are strongest in discriminating variations in security of attachment. Because security of attachment is a nominally scaled variable, discriminant function analyses were used to assess the major hypotheses. Prior probabilities of the dependent variable (i.e., .60 and .40 which represent the proportion of securely attached and insecurely attached infants, respectively) were included in the computational algorithms of the discriminant function analysis. Maternal Characteristics Discriminant analyses were first performed to assess whether prenatal maternal characteristics can serve as the basis for assignment of 12-month attachment classification. The discriminant function, including the three psychological measures (BDI, STAI, and SE), was statistically significant, Wilks’ lambda = .84, x2(3, N = 52) = 8.23, p = .04. Table 1 presents the results. Based on the magnitudes of the standardized coefficients, it appears that prenatal anxiety was the best single predictor of attachment classification. The analysis also indicates that 63% of the cases were correctly classified, including 68% of the securely attached and 57% of the insecurely attached.

Discriminont With

Predictors Anxiety Self-Efficacy Depression

Function Prenatal

TABLE Anolysls

Psychological

Variables

of Attachment as Predictors Secure”

Standardized Coefficient Function 1

M (SD)

I .26” .83’ - .30

Note. A = .84; x2(3, N = 52) = 8.23, ‘Entries ore raw scores on questionnaires. l p < .05. “p i .Ol.

I of Security

32.6 83.1 7.0 p =

.04

(7.3) (4.5) (3.5)

Insecure” M (SD) 36.9 86.1 7.8

(7.7) (10.61 (4.5)

DEL

140

CARMEN,

Discriminant With Infant

PEDERSEN,

HUFFMAN,

TABLE 2 Function Analysis of Security Temperament Characteristics

AND

of Attachment as Predictors

Standardized Coefficient Function 1

Predictors Negativify Positivity

.92 .36 .44

SoothabilitY Sociability

.l 1

Note. A = .86; x*(3, N = 52) = 7.1, p = .13. “Entries are cluster scares on Garcia-Co11 et 01,‘s

(1988)

BRYAN

Secure”

Insecure0

M WI

M WI

5.8 3.1

(2.6) (2.0)

3.8 33.2

(6.0) (16.8)

4.3 2.8 2.1

(1.7) (2.5) (2.2)

33.6

(6.8)

factors

Infant Characteristics

We assessed whether or not infant characteristics measured in a standardized laboratory procedure can serve as the basis for assignment of attachment classification. The summary scores for positivity, negativity, sociability, and soothability derived by Garcia-Co11 et al. (1988) were used in the analysis as. predictors of attachment classification. As Table 2 indicates, the overall statistic for discriminating attachment classification on the basis of temperament was not statistically significant. However, observation of the correlations between each of the individual temperament variables and attachment classification revealed one significant factor related to security of attachment: infant negativity. Independent assessment of infant negativity at 3 months was significantly related to security of attachment at 12 months (point biserial r = .31, p = .04). This result, of course, is qualified by the previous anaiysis indicating that the overall statistic (utilizing all temperament variables as predictors) from the discriminant function analysis was not significant. Mother-Infant

Dyadic

Behavior

Discriminant analyses then were conducted using the three summary variables (social/affective interactions, object-oriented interactions, distress management interactions) as predictors of attachment classification. Table 3 presents the results. Results indicated that one discriminant function was statistically significant, Wilks’ lambda = .75, ~‘(3, N = 52) = 14.1, p = .003, in discriminating those infants who would be classified as securely attached at 12 months from infants who would be classified as insecurely attached. The standardized discriminant function coefficients revealed that the strongest predictor was the distress management interaction. The results also indicate that 69% of the cases were correctly classified on the basis of the dyadic variables, including 68% of the securely attached and 71% of the insecurely attached.

DISTRESS

MANAGEMENT

Discriminant Function With Parent-Infant

AND

ATTACHMENT

TABLE 3 Analysis of Security of Attachment Dyadic Variables as Predictors Secure”

Standardized Coefficient Function 1 Distress

Management

.49 - .46

Nate. h = .75; x2(3, OEntries are z scares ‘p < ,001.

N = 52) = an observational

Discriminant With

14.1,

Function

Infant,

Maternal,

p = ,003. clusters (M

TABLE Analysis and

Insecure0

M ISDI

1 .OB’

Social/Affective Obfect-Oriented

141

.60

(2.3)

.27 .02

(3.4) (1.5)

M fSDl - 1.27

(1.1)

.02 (3.7) .22 (1.8)

= 0).

4 of Security

Dyadic

of Attachment

Variables

as Predictors Standardized Coefficient Function 1

Predictors Dyadic Behavior [Distress Management) Maternal Prenatal Anxiety Infant Neqativity Note. A = *p < .05.

.70; x2(3, N **p < .Ol.

.78** -.61* .30 = 52)

=

17.7,

p =

Relative Contribution of Maternal, to Security of Attachment

.0005.

Infant,

and Dyadic

Variables

In order to evaluate the relative contribution of maternal, infant, and mother-infant dyadic variables in the prediction of attachment classification, discriminant function analyses were run using the variables from each category found to be significant in the previous analyses. Table 4 presents the data for the classification of cases using the strongest predictors from the previous analyses (prenatal maternal anxiety, infant negativity, and distress management interaction). The results indicate that the discriminant function was highly significant, Wilks’ lambda = .70, x2(3, N = 52) = 17.7, p = .0005. The three predictors correctly classified 73% of the cases including 71% of the securely attached and 76% of the insecurely attached infants. The results also indicate that dyadic (distress management) and prenatal maternal anxiety are the strongest predictors in classifying security of attachment.j 3 In view Feiring, multiple analyses.

of a precedent

1989), the regression

in recent

data also were analyses were

attachment

studies

analyzed with indistinguishable

far utilizing multiple from

regression

regression. those of the

analyses The results discriminant

(Lewis

&

from the function

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DISCUSSION The findings of this study bear on some of the basic tenets of attachment theory. First, they suggest that a critical component in the complex reciprocal feedback process through which infant and caregiver build their relationship is distress management, specifically, parental responsiveness to the distress cues of the infant in the first 3 months. In this study, we operationally defined dyadic distress management as the frequency of interactions involving fussing and crying on the part of the infant and calming and soothing on the part of the mother. The results highlight the adaptive significance of the infant’s ability and frequency in eliciting cues in the form of crying and fussing and the appropriate responsivity of the mother to these cues. In this normal, middleto upper-middle-class sample, higher rates of infant fussing and crying were not indicative of poor infant outcome but, together with frequent appropriate maternal interventions (contact involving calming and soothing the distressed infant), led to secure attachments. Interactions involving distress management proved more important than social/affective or object-oriented interactions at 3 months of age, or than unconfounded measures of maternal personality and infant temperament in predicting security of attachment. Consistent with attachment theory, the findings of this study highlight the role of fussing and crying on the part of the infant as proximity-eliciting and maintaining behaviors important for the infant’s subsequent development (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1969). The findings also are consistent with the research of Gekoski, Rovee-Collier, and Carulli-Rabinowitz (1983) who reported data suggesting that infants learn both the environmental cues and social consequences of their cries, and that such learning “insures continuing interactions with individuals whose investment in the infant’s wellbeing and survival is high” (p. 350). A second important finding from this study, consistent with attachment theory, is that maternal personality, measured prenatally, predicts subsequent security of attachment in offspring. Infants whose mothers reported low prenatal anxiety were more likely to be securely attached at 12 months than infants whose mothers were more anxious. On a theoretical level, this finding strengthens the “maternal effects” position that maternal characteristics influence the transmission of a secure attachment. Furthermore, these characteristics can be identified prenatally and independently of the infant.” The critical issue for future research is what the behavioral consequences are for respondents who score higher on anxiety questionnaires. We believe

‘We are events related factors related with negative

cognizant to the to infant pregnancy

of the possibility that course of the pregnancy outcome. outcomes

in high-risk that bear

There is a literature (Huffman & Del

samples, maternal on the condition

that implicates Carmen. 1990).

prenatal

anxiety may index of the fetus or other maternal

anxiety

l

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the “missing link” relates to the management of negative affect. Our findings that prenatal anxiety predicts security of attachment suggest that the prenatal anxiety measures are tapping individual differences in how mothers manage their own negative distress and that these differences are carried over to the offspring. There are recent findings highlighting the importance of skill in regulating negative affect on the part of parents. Howes (1991) reported longitudinal data utilizing premarital assessments suggesting that difficulties regulating negative affect in premarital interaction by both men and women predict lower levels of security of attachment with their children. We speculate that maternal management of affective distress in self is an important component in understanding maternal predictors of attachment. Finally, a suggestive finding in regard to infant temperament implicated insecurely attached infants with ratings of fess negative affect at 3 months of age than securely attached infants. Although it is argued that infant differences can affect attachment behavior directly (Campos et al., 1983; Kagan, 1982), relatively few empirical studies of temperament and attachment have been conducted. Broadly speaking, infant distress-proneness and infant negative affect have been linked to attachment, although the findings are not consistent across studies. Goldsmith et al. (1986) noted that one observation made in the literature is “that infants who show avoidance of the mother in the Strange Situation and are sometimes classified as insecurely attached . . . tend to be perceived as possessing hedonically positive temperament characteristics” (p. 22). In a study of mothers from a similar socioeconomic background and attachment classification distribution as the subjects in this investigation, Bradshaw et al. (1987) reported that infants whose temperament ratings indicated a more “positive hedonic tone” had significantly higher scores for avoidance in the reunion episodes of the Strange Situation. Although not consistent across studies, some investigators have observed that securely attached infants exhibit more fuss/cry behaviors than insecurely attached infants in certain contexts. For example, Kiser et al. (1986) found that secure dyads had more fussy infant behaviors than insecure dyads in a 6-month observational segment requiring mother and infant to “return to interaction” after a brief period of nonresponsiveness in the mother. They noted that “the most difficult finding to explain in terms of attachment theory is the discriminant function weight indicating that infants later classified as secure were slightly more fussy than the resistant group . . .” (p. 74). They hypothesized that this difference is due to biologically based differences in proficiency in signaling distress. It may be that infants who subsequently develop secure attachments are less restricted in emotional expressiveness and more competent in communicating their needs to caregivers in the first year. In conclusion, this study explored predictors of attachment by utilizing relatively unconfounded assessments of maternal and infant characteristics as

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well as observations of mother-infant dyadic behavior. The results suggest that maternal characteristics salient to infant attachment can be successfully identified in the prenatal period. However, variables measuring motherinfant dyadic behavior, specifically those involving distress management, were the best predictors of security of attachment. Future research should continue to explore the concept of distress management in terms of how negative distress influences both mother and infant in their evolving relationship.

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20 March

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