Parenting Stress: The Roles of Attachment States of Mind and Parenting Alliance in the Context of Adoption

SYNOPSIS Objective. To examine whether parent’s attachment states of mind and parenting alliance contribute to parental stress in the potentially demanding context of adoption. Design. Fifty mother–father pairs (n = 100) completed the Adult Attachment Interview within six months of adoption to investigate attachment states of mind. The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI/SF) and the Parenting Alliance Measure questionnaires were administered two years after adoption to evaluate stress and the parenting alliance. Results. Multivariate regression models showed that unresolved attachment predicted stress to a greater extent than insecure attachment and, together with low parenting alliance, significantly contributed to explaining levels of stress perceived by parents. In mothers, but not in fathers, parenting alliance moderated the effect of an unresolved state of mind on parenting stress. Conclusion. Unresolved attachment states of mind and the parenting alliance singly, and even more so jointly, influence stress experienced by parents. Understanding of the family’s adjustment to adoption may benefit from an in-depth analysis of the role of individual and dyadic variables involved in childrearing.

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