Intergenerational transmission of attachment in father-child dyads: The case of single parenthood

Journal of Genetic Psychology

Volumn 170, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 31-52

  Bernier, Annie ^a   Miljkovitch, Raphaéle ^b  

^a UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITÉ PARIS OUEST NANTERRE LA DÉFENSE   (France)

Author keywords

Attachment transmission; Child narratives; Custodial fathers; Father child dyads; Preschool children

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; CUSTODY; FATHER; FATHER CHILD RELATION; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; MALE; OBJECT RELATION; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SINGLE PARENT;

ADULT; CHILD CUSTODY; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; FATHER-CHILD RELATIONS; FATHERS; FEMALE; HUMANS; INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS; MALE; OBJECT ATTACHMENT; SINGLE PARENT;

EID: 63149085630     PISSN: 00221325     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3200/GNTP.170.1.31-52     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Allen, J. P., Moore, C., Kuperminc, G., & Bell, K. (1998). Attachment and adolescent psychosocial functioning. Child Development, 69, 1406-1419.
2. Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1993). A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity. Developmental Psychology, 29, 870-879.
3. Belsky, J., & Volling, B. L. (1987). Mothering, fathering, and marital interaction in the family triad during infancy: Exploring family system's processes. In P. W. Berman & F. A. Pedersen (Eds.), Men's transitions to parenthood: Longitudinal studies of early family experience (pp. 37-63). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
4. Benoît, D., & Parker, K. C. H. (1994). Stability and transmission of attachment across three generations. Child Development, 65, 1444-1456.
5. Bernier, A., Larose, S.,Boivin, M., & Soucy, N. (2004). Attachment state of mind: Implications for adjustment to college. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 783-806.
6. Bogolub, E. B. (1995). Helping families through divorce: An eclectic approach. New York: Springer.
7. Bokker, L. P., Farley, R. C., & Bailey, W. (2006). The relationship between custodial status and emotional well-being among recently divorced fathers. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 44, 83-98.
8. Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
9. Braungart-Rieker, J. M., Garwood, M. M., Powers, B. P., & Wang, X. (2001). Parental sensitivity, infant affect, and affect regulation: Predictors of later attachment. Child Development, 72, 252-270.
10. Bretherton, I., & Oppenheim, D. (2003). The MacArthur Story Stem Battery: Development, directions for administration, reliability, validity and reflections about meaning. In R. N. Emde, D. P. Wolf, & D. Oppenheim (Eds.), Revealing the inner worlds of young children: The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and parent-child narratives. New York: Oxford University Press.
11. Bretherton, I., & Page, T. F. (2004) Shared or conflicting working models? Relationships in post-divorce families seen through the eyes of mothers and their preschool children. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 551-575.
12. Bretherton, I., Ridgeway, D., & Cassidy, J. (1990). Assessing internal working models of the attachment relationship: An attachment story completion task for 3-year-olds. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13. Bronstein, P. (1984). Differences in mothers' and fathers' behaviors toward children: A cross-cultural comparison. Developmental Psychology, 20, 995-1003.
14. Bus, A. G. & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1992). Patterns of attachment in frequently and infrequently reading mother-child dyads. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 153, 395-403.
15. Cassidy, J., & Berlin, L. J. (1994). The insecure/ambivalent pattern of attachment: Theory and research. Child Development, 65, 971-981.
16. Crowell, J. A., Waters, E., Treboux, D., O'Connor, E., Colon-Downs, C., Feider, O., et al. (1996). Discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Child Development, 67, 2584-2599.
17. Das Eiden, R., Teti, D. M., & Corns, K. M. (1995). Maternal working models of attachment, marital adjustment, and the parent-child relationship. Child Development, 66, 1504-1518.
18. De Wolff, M. S., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1997). Sensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. Child Development, 68, 571-591.
19. Dixon, S., Yogman, M., Tronick, E., Adamson, L., Als, H., & Brazelton, T. B. (1981). Early infant social interaction with parents and strangers. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 32-52.
20. Dozier, M., Stovall, K. C., Albus, K. E., & Bates, B. (2001). Attachment for infants in foster care: The role of caregiver state of mind. Child Development, 72, 1467-1477.
21. Frodi, A. M., Lamb, M. E., Leavitt, L. A., & Donovan, W. L. (1978). Fathers' and mothers' responses to infant smiles and cries. Infant Behavior and Development, 1, 187-198.
22. Frodi, A. M., Lamb, M. E., Leavitt, L. A., Donovan, W. L., Neff, C., & Sherry, D. (1978). Fathers' and mothers' responses to the faces and cries of normal and premature infants. Developmental Psychology, 14, 490-498.
23. George, C., Kaplan, N., &Main, M. (1996). Adult Attachment Interview protocol (3rd ed.). Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.
24. Gloger-Tippelt, G., Gomille, B., Koenig, L., & Vetter, J. (2002). Attachment representations in 6-year-olds: Related longitudinally to the quality of attachment in infancy and mothers' attachment representations. Attachment and Human Development, 4, 318-339.
25. Goldwyn, R., Stanley, C., Smith, V., & Green, J. (2000). The Manchester Child Attachment Story Task: Relationship with parental AAI, SAT and child behavior. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 71-84.
26. Grossmann, K., Grossmann, K. E., Fremmer-Bombik, E., Kindler, H., Scheuerer-Englisch, H., & Zimmermann, R (2002). The uniqueness of the child-father attachment relationship: Father's sensitive and challenging play as a pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study. Social Development, 11, 307-331.
27. Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., & Zimmermann, R (1999). A wider view of attachment and exploration. In J. Cassidy & R R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 760-786). New York: Guilford Press.
28. Grossmann, K. E., & Grossmann, K. (1991). Attachment quality as an organizer of emotional and behavioral responses in a longitudinal perspective. In C. M. Parkes & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Attachment across the life cycle (pp. 93-114). New York: Tavistock/Routledge.
29. Hesse, E. (1999). The Adult Attachment Interview: Historical and current perspectives. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 395-433). New York: Guilford Press.
30. Hetherington, E. M., Cox, M., & Cox, R. (1982). Effects of divorce on parents and children. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), Nontraditional families (pp. 233-288). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
31. Hewlett, B. S. (1992). Father-child relations: Cultural and biosocial contexts. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
32. Kazui, M., Endo, T., Tanaka, A., Sakagami, H., & Suganuma, M. (2000). Intergenerational transmission of attachment: Japanese mother-child dyads. Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 48, 323-332.
33. Keyes, C. B., & Scoblic, M. A. (1982). Fathering activities during early infancy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 3, 28-42.
34. Klaus, M. H., Kennell, J. H., Plumb, N., & Zuehlke, S. (1970). Human maternal behavior at the first contact with her young. Pediatrics, 46, 187-192.
35. Kobak, R. R. (1993). The Adult Attachment Interview Q-sort. Unpublished manuscript, University of Delaware, Newark.
36. Kobak, R. R., Cole, H. E., Ferenz-Gilles, R., Fleming, W. S., & Gamble, W. (1993). Attachment and emotion regulation during mother-teen problem solving: A control theory analysis. Child Development, 64, 231-245.
37. Kotelchuck, M. (1972). The nature of the child's tie to his father. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
38. Lamb, M. E. (1976a). Effects of stress and cohort on mother- and father-infant interaction. Developmental Psychology, 12, 435-443.
39. Lamb, M. E. (1976b). Interactions between two-year-olds and their mothers and fathers. Psychological Reports, 38, 447-450.
40. Lamb, M. E. (1976c). Parent-infant interaction in 8-month-olds. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 7, 56-63.
41. Lamb, M. E. (1976d). Twelve-month-olds and their parents: Interaction in a laboratory playroom. Developmental Psychology, 12, 237-244.
42. Lamb, M. E. (1977). Father-infant and mother-infant interaction in the first year of life. Child Development, 48, 167-181.
43. Lamb, M. E. (2004). The role of the father in child development (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
44. Lamb, M. E., Hwang, C. P., Frodi, A. M., & Frodi, M. (1982). Security of mother- and father-infant attachment and its relation to sociability with strangers in traditional and nontraditional Swedish families. Infant Behavior and Development, 5, 355-367.
45. Lamb, M. E., Pleck, J. H., Charnov, E. L., & Levine, J. A. (1985). Paternal behavior in humans. American Zoologist, 25, 883-894.
46. Lyons-Ruth, K., Yellin, C., Melnick, S., & Atwood, G. (2005). Expanding the concept of unresolved mental states: Hostile/helpless states of mind on the Adult Attachment Interview are associated with disrupted mother-infant communication and infant disorganization. Development and Psychopathology, 27, 1-23.
47. Maier, M. A., Bernier, A., Pekrun, R., Zimmermann, P., & Grossmann, K. E. (2004). Attachment working models as unconscious structures: An experimental test. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 180-189.
48. Maier, M., Bernier, A., Pekrun, R., Zimmermann, P., Strasser, K., & Grossmann, K. E. (2005). Attachment state of mind and perceptual processing of emotional stimuli. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 67-81.
49. Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1998). Adult Attachment Classification System, Draft 6.2. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.
50. Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 161-182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
51. Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(Serial No. 209), 66-104.
52. Miljkovitch, R., Pierrehumbert, B., Bretherton, I., & Halfon, O. (2004). Associations between parental and child attachment representations. Attachment and Human Development, 6, 305-325.
53. Miljkovitch, R., Pierrehumbert, B, Bretherton, I., & Halfon, O. (submitted). Associations between preschoolers' attachment representations and actual interactions with the mother.
54. Miljkovitch, R., Pierrehumbert, B., & Halfon, O. (2007). Three-year-olds' play narratives and their associations with internalizing problems. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 14, 249-257.
55. Nielsen, L. (1999). Demeaning, demoralizing, and disenfranchising divorced dads: A review of the literature. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 31, 139-177.
56. Oppenheim, D. (1997). The Attachment Doll-Play Interview for preschoolers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 681-697.
57. Oppenheim, D., Sagi, A., & Lamb, M. E. (1988). Infant-adult attachments on the kibbutz and their relation to socioemotional development 4 years later. Developmental Psychology, 24, 427-433.
58. Paquette, D. (2004). Theorizing the father-child relationship: Mechanisms and developmental outcomes. Human Development, 47, 193-219.
59. Parke, R. D. (1995). Fathers and families. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of par- enting, Status and social conditions of parenting (Vol. 3, pp. 27-63). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
60. Parke, R. D., & O'Leary, S. E. (1976). Family interaction in the newborn period: Some findings, some observations and some unresolved issues. In K. Riegel & J. Meacham (Eds.), The developing individual in a changing world: Social and environmental issues (Vol. 2, pp. 653-663). The Hague, The Netherlands: Mouton.
61. Parke, R. D., & Sawin, D. B. (1977, March). The family in early infancy: Social, interactional, and attitudinal analysis. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development, New Orleans, LA.
62. Pedersen, F. A. (1980). The father-infant relationship: Observational studies in the family setting. New York: Praeger.
63. Posada, G., Waters, E., Crowell, J. A., & Lay, K.-L. (1995). Is it easier to use a secure mother as a secure base? Attachment Q-sort correlates of the Adult Attachment Interview. In E. Waters, B. Vaughn, G. Posada, & K. Kondo-Ikemura (Eds.), Caregiving, cultural and cognitive perspectives on secure-base behavior and working models: New growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60(2-3, Serial No. 244), 133-145.
64. Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1, 515-526.
65. Pruett, K. D. (1989). The nurturing male: A longitudinal study of primary nurturing fathers. In S. H. Cath, A. Gurwitt, & L. Gunsberg (Eds.), Fathers and their families (pp. 389-405). Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
66. Pruett, K. D. (1991). Consequences of primary paternal care: Fathers and babies in the first six years. In S. I. Greenspan & G. H. Pollock (Eds.), The course of life, Vol. 3: Middle and late childhood (pp. 73-94). Madison, WI: International Universities Press.
67. Risman, B. J. (1986). Can men "mother"? Life as a single father. Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family and Child Studies, 35, 95-102.
68. Roisman, G. I., Fraley, R. C., & Belsky, J. (2007). A taxometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview. Developmental Psychology, 43, 675-686.
69. Russell, G., & Russell, A. (1987). Mother-child and father-child relationships in middle childhood. Child Development, 58, 1573-1585.
70. Sagi, A., Lamb, M. E., Shoham, R., Dvir, R., & Lewkovicz, K. S. (1985). Parent-infant interaction in families on Israeli kibbutzim. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 8, 273-284.
71. Sagi, A., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Scharf, M., Joels, T., Koren-Karie, N., Mayseless, O. et al. (1997). Ecological constraints for intergenerational transmission of attachment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 287-299.
72. Sagi, A., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Scharf, M., Koren-Karie, N., Joels, T., & Mayseless, O. (1994). Stability and discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview: A psychometric study in young Israeli adults. Developmental Psychology, 30, 771-777.
73. Schaffer, H. R., & Emerson, P. E. (1964). The development of social attachments in infancy. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 29(3, No. 94).
74. Siegel, S., & Castellan, N. J., Jr. (1988). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
75. Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 17-29.
76. Steele, H., & Steele, M. (1994). Intergenerational patterns of attachment. In K. Bartholomew & D. Perlman (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood: Advances in personal relationships series. (Vol. 5, pp. 93-120). London: Kingsley.
77. Steele, M., Steele, H., Croft, C., & Fonagy, P. (1999). Infant-mother attachment at one year predicts children's understanding of mixed emotions at six years. Social Development, 8, 161-178.
78. Steele, H., Steele, M., &Fonagy, P. (1996). Associations among attachment classifications of mothers, fathers, and their infants. Child Development, 67, 541-555.
79. Steele, M., Steele, H., & Johansson, M. (2002). Maternal predictors of children's social cognition: An attachment perspective. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 861-872.
80. Suess, G. J., Grossmann, K. E., & Sroufe, L. A. (1992). Effects of infant attachment to mother and father on quality of adaptation in preschool: From dyadic to individual organisation of self. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 15, 43-65.
81. Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Cabrera, N. (2002). Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
82. Tarabulsy, G. M., Bernier, A., Provost, M. A., Maranda, J., Larose, S., Moss, E., et al. (2005). Another look inside the gap: Ecological contributions to the transmission of attachment in a sample of adolescent mother-infant dyads. Developmental Psychology, 41, 212-224.
83. Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1995). Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 1-17.
84. Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Kranenburg, M. J., Zwart-Woudstra, H. A., Van Busschbach, A. M., & Lambermon, M. W. E. (1991). Parental attachment and children's socioemotional development: Some findings on the validity of the Adult Attachment Interview in The Netherlands. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 14, 375-394.
85. Volling, B. L., & Belsky, J. (1992). The contribution of mother-child and father-child relationships to the quality of sibling interaction: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 63, 1209-1222.
86. Ward, M. J., & Carlson, E. A. (1995). Associations among adult attachment representations, maternal sensitivity, and infant-mother attachment in a sample of adolescent mothers. Child Development, 66, 69-79.
87. Waters, E., & Beauchaine, T. P. (2003). Are there really patterns of attachment? Developmental Psychology, 39, 417-422.
88. Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief. Child Development, 72, 655-684.
89. Yogman, M. W. (1981). Games fathers and mothers play with their infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 2, 241-248.
90. Yogman, M. W. (1994). Observations on the father-child relationship. In S. H. Cath, A. R. Gurwitt, & J. M. Ross (Eds.), Father and child: Developmental and clinical perspectives (pp. 101-122). Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
91. Youngblade, L. M., Park, K. A., & Belsky, J. (1993). Measurement of young children's close friendship: A comparison of two independent assessment systems and their associations with attachment security. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 563-587.
92. Zimmermann, P., Becker-Stoll, F., & Fremmer-Bombik, E. (1997). Erfassung der bindung-srepraesentation mit dem Adult Attachment Interview: Ein methodenvergleich [Assessment of attachment representations with the Adult Attachment Interview: A comparison of methods]. Kindheit und Entwicklung, 6, 173-182.
93. Zimmermann, P., Maier, M., Winter, M., & Grossmann, K. E. (2001). Attachment and adolescents' emotion regulation during a joint problem-solving task with a friend. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 331-343.