Attachment and coping strategies in middle childhood children whose mothers have a mental health problem: Implications for social work practice

British Journal of Social Work

Volumn 39, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 81-98

  Walsh, Judi ^a,e   Schofield, Gillian ^a   Harris, Gillian ^b,c   Vostanis, Panos ^d   Oyebode, Femi ^b   Coulthard, Helen ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^c BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN S HOSPITAL   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER   (United Kingdom)

^e UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Attachment; Children and families; Coping strategies; Mental health; Middle childhood

Indexed keywords

EID: 59449088590     PISSN: 00453102     EISSN: 1468263X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcm090     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Atkinson, L., Paglia, A., Coolbear, J., Niccols, A., Parker, K. C. H. and Guger, S. (2000) 'Attachment security: A meta-analysis of maternal mental health correlates', Clinical Psychology Review, 20(8), pp. 1019-40.
2. Bowlby, J. (1973) Attachment and Loss: Vol. 2: Separation, New York, Basic Books.
3. Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A. and Toth, S. L. (1998) 'Maternal depressive disorder and contextual risk: Contributions to the development of attachment insecurity and behavior problems in toddlerhood', Development and Psychopathology, 10, pp. 283-300.
4. Cleaver, H., Unell, I. and Aldgate, J. (1999) Children's Needs and Parenting Capacity: The Impact of Parental Mental Illness, Problem Alcohol and Drug Use and Domestic Violence on Children's Development, London, The Stationery Office.
5. Cunningham, J. (2001) 'Children of mothers with mental health problems', unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
6. Cunningham, J., Harris, G., Vostanis, P., Oyebode, F. and Blissett, J. (2004) 'Children of mothers with mental illness: Attachment and emotional and behavioural problems', Early Child Development and Care, 174(7-8), pp. 639-50.
7. Department for Education and Skills (2003) Every Child Matters, London, The Stationery Office.
8. Department for Education and Skills (2005) Children and Young People's Plan (England) Regulations, London, The Stationery Office.
9. Department of Health (1999) National Service Framework for Mental Health: Modern Standards and Service Models, London, The Stationery Office.
10. Easterbrooks, M. A. and Abeles, R. (2000) 'Windows to the self in 8-year-olds: Bridges to attachment representation and behavioral adjustment', Attachment and Human Development, 2(1), pp. 85-106.
11. Elliot, C. D., Smith, P. and McCulloch, K. (1996) The British Ability Scales (II), National Foundation for Educational Research, NFER-NELSON Publishing Company Ltd.
12. Fonagy, P., Redfern, S. and Charman, T. (1997) 'The relationship between belief-desire reasoning and a projective measure of attachment security (SAT)', British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15, pp. 51-61.
13. Gilligan, R. (2000) 'Adversity, resilience and young people: The protective value of positive school and spare time experiences', Children and Society, 14(1), pp. 37-47.
14. Goldberg, S. (2000) Attachment and Development, London, Arnold.
15. Goodman, R. (1997) 'The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), pp. 581-6.
16. Greenberg, M. T. (1999) 'Attachment and psychopathology in childhood', in Cassidy, J. and Shaver, P. R. (eds), Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications, London, Guilford.
17. Hansburg, H. G. (1972) Adolescent Separation Anxiety: A Method for the Study of Adolescent Separation Problems, Springfield, IL, C.C. Thomas.
18. Hetherington, R., Baistow, K., Katz, I., Mesie, J. and Trowell, J. (2002) The Welfare of Children with Mentally Ill Parents: Learning from Intercountry Comparisons, Chichester, Wiley.
19. Hill, J. (2004) 'Parental psychiatric disorder and attachment', in Göpfert, M., Webster, J. and Seeman, M. V. (eds), Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, 2nd edn, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
20. Howe, D. (2005) Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment, Development and Intervention, Basingstoke, Macmillan.
21. Howe, D., Brandon, M., Hinings, D. and Schofield, G. (1999) Attachment Theory, Child Maltreatment and Family Support: A Practice and Assessment Model, Macmillan Press UK and Lawrence Erlbaum Associates/LEA USA.
22. Kaplan, N. (1987) 'Individual differences in 6-year-old's thoughts about separation', unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology.
23. Kerns, K. A. and Richardson, R. A. (2005) Attachment in Middle Childhood, New York, Guilford Press.
24. Klagsbrun, M. and Bowlby, J. (1976) 'Responses to separation from parents: A clinical test for young children', Projective Psychology, 21(2), pp. 7-25.
25. Kobak, R. and Rosenthal, N. (2003) 'The Important People Interview', unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, cited in Kobak et al. (2005).
26. Kobak, R., Rosenthal, N. and Serwick, A. (2005) 'The attachment hierarchy in middle childhood: Conceptual and methodological issues', in Kerns, K. A. and Richardson, R. A. (eds), Attachment in Middle Childhood, London, Guilford.
27. Leschied, A. W., Chiodo, D., Whitehead, P. C. and Hurley, D. (2005) 'The relationship between maternal depression and child outcomes in a child welfare sample: Implications for treatment and policy', Child and Family Social Work, 10(4), pp. 281-91.
28. Lyons-Ruth, K., Melnick, S., Bronfman, E., Sheey, S. and Lianas, L. (2004) 'Hostilehelpless relational models and disorganized attachment patterns between parents and their young children: Review of research and implications for clinical work', in Atkinson, L. and Goldberg, S. (eds), Attachment Issues in Psychopathology and Intervention, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
29. Main, M. and Cassidy, J. (1988) 'Categories of response to reunion with the parent at age 6: Predictable from infant attachment classifications and stable over a 1-month period', Developmental Psychopathology, 24(3), pp. 415-26.
30. Main, M. and Hesse, E. (1990) 'Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening behavior the linking mechanism?', in Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D. and Cummings, E. M. (eds), Attachment in the Preschool Years: Theory, Research and Intervention, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
31. Main, M., Kaplan, N. and Cassidy, J. (1985) 'Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation', in Bretherton, I. and Waters, E. (eds), Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1-2, Serial No. 209), pp. 66-104.
32. Manassis, K., Bradley, S., Goldberg, S., Hood, J. and Swinson, R. P. (1994) 'Attachment in mothers with anxiety disorders and their children', Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(8), pp. 1106-13.
33. Marcus, R. F. (1997) 'Concordance between parent inventory and directly observed measures of attachment', Early Child Development and Care, 135, pp. 109-17.
34. Murray, L., Kempton, C., Woolgar, M. and Hooper, R. (1993) 'Depressed mothers' speech to their infants and its relationship to infant gender and cognitive development', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, pp. 1083-101.
35. Radke-Yarrow, M., McCann, K., DeMulder, E., Belmont, B., Martinez, P. and Richardson, D. T. (1995) 'Attachment in the context of high-risk conditions', Development and Psychopathology, 7, pp. 247-65.
36. Rutter, M. (1999) 'Resilience concepts and findings: Implications for family therapy', Journal of Family Therapy, 21, pp. 159-60.
37. Schofield, G. (1998) 'Inner and outer worlds: A psychosocial framework for child and family social work', Child and Family Social Work, 3(1), pp. 57-68.
38. Sheehan, R. (2004) 'Partnership in Mental Health and Child Welfare', Social Work in Health Care, 39(3-4), pp. 309-24.
39. Sheppard, M. (1994) 'Maternal depression, child care and the social work role', British Journal of Social Work, 24, pp. 33-51.
40. Sheppard, M. (1997) 'Double jeopardy: The link between child abuse and maternal depression', British Journal of Social Work, 2, pp. 91-109.
41. Sheppard, M. (2002) 'Depressed mothers' experience of partnership in child and family care', British Journal of Social Work, 32(1), pp. 93-112.
42. Smith, M. (2004) 'Parental mental health: Disruptions to parenting and outcomes for children', Child and Family Social Work, 9, pp. 3-12.
43. Stanley, N. and Penhale, B. (1999) 'The mental health problems of mothers experiencing the child protection system: Identifying needs and appropriate responses', Child Abuse Review, 8, pp. 34-45.
44. Stanley, N., Penhale, B., Riordan, D., Barbour, R. S. and Holden, S. (2003) Child Protection and Mental Health Services: Interprofessional Responses to the Needs of Mothers, Bristol, The Policy Press.
45. Steele, H., Steele, M., Croft, C. and Fonagy, P. (1999) 'Infant-mother attachment at one year predicts children's understanding of mixed emotions at 6 years', Journal of Social Development, 8, pp. 161-78.
46. Teti, D. M., Gelfand, D. M., Messinger, D. S. and Isabella, R. (1995) 'Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: An examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers', Developmental Psychology, 31, pp. 364-76.
47. Thompson, R. A. (1999) 'Early attachment and later development', in Cassidy, J. and Shaver, P. R. (eds), Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications, London, Guilford.
48. Tunnard, J. (2004) Parental Mental Health Problems: Key Messages from Research, Policy and Practice, Dartington, Research in Practice.
49. Woodcock, J. and Sheppard, M. (2002) 'Double trouble: Maternal depression and alcohol dependence as combined factors in child and family social work', Children and Society, 16, pp. 232-45.
50. Wright, J. C., Binney, V. and Smith, P. K. (1995) 'Security of attachment in 8-12-year-olds: A revised version of the separation anxiety test, its psychometric properties and clinical interpretation', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36(5), pp. 757-74.