Attachment security and disorganization in maltreating and high-risk families: A series of meta-analyses

Abstract The current meta-analytic study examined the differential impact of maltreatment and various socioeconomic risks on attachment security and disorganization. Fifty-five studies with 4,792 children were traced, yielding 59 samples with nonmaltreated high-risk children (n = 4,336) and 10 samples with maltreated children (n = 456). We tested whether proportions of secure versus insecure (avoidant, resistant, and disorganized) and organized versus disorganized attachments varied as a function of risks. Results showed that children living under high-risk conditions (including maltreatment studies) showed fewer secure (d = 0.67) and more disorganized (d = 0.77) attachments than children living in low-risk families. Large effects sizes were found for the set of maltreatment studies: maltreated children were less secure (d = 2.10) and more disorganized (d = 2.19) than other high-risk children (d = 0.48 and d = 0.48, respectively). However, children exposed to five socioeconomic risks (k = 8 studies, d = 1.20) were not significantly less likely to be disorganized than maltreated children. Overall, these meta-analyses show the destructive impact of maltreatment for attachment security as well as disorganization, but the accumulation of socioeconomic risks appears to have a similar impact on attachment disorganization.

[1]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Promoting Positive Parenting , 2012 .

[2]  G. Kochanska,et al.  G x E interaction in the organization of attachment: mothers' responsiveness as a moderator of children's genotypes. , 2008, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[3]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Dopamine system genes associated with parenting in the context of daily hassles , 2008, Genes, brain, and behavior.

[4]  Xiao-Hua Zhou,et al.  Statistical Methods for Meta‐Analysis , 2008 .

[5]  Linda M. Oravecz,et al.  Community Violence, Interpartner Conflict, Parenting, and Social Support as Predictors of the Social Competence of African American Preschool Children , 2008 .

[6]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Research Review: genetic vulnerability or differential susceptibility in child development: the case of attachment. , 2007, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[7]  Pratibha Reebye,et al.  Attachment Theory in Clinical Work with Children: Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice , 2007 .

[8]  S. Bradley.  Enhancing Early Attachments: Theory, Research, Intervention, and Policy , 2007 .

[9]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  DRD4 7-repeat polymorphism moderates the association between maternal unresolved loss or trauma and infant disorganization , 2006, Attachment & human development.

[10]  K. Minde,et al.  Culturally sensitive assessment of attachment in children aged 18-40 months in a South African township. , 2006, Infant mental health journal.

[11]  Arthur Becker-Weidman.  The report of the APSAC Task Force on Attachment Therapy, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Attachment Problems. , 2006, Child maltreatment.

[12]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Fostering secure attachment in infants in maltreating families through preventive interventions , 2006, Development and Psychopathology.

[13]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Gene-environment interaction of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) and observed maternal insensitivity predicting externalizing behavior in preschoolers. , 2006, Developmental psychobiology.

[14]  M. Main,et al.  Frightened, threatening, and dissociative parental behavior in low-risk samples: Description, discussion, and interpretations , 2006, Development and Psychopathology.

[15]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: A review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap , 2006, Attachment & human development.

[16]  Ross A. Thompson,et al.  Family emotional climate, attachment security and young children's emotion knowledge in a high risk sample , 2006 .

[17]  D. Pederson,et al.  Unresolved states of mind, disorganized attachment relationships, and disrupted interactions of adolescent mothers and their infants. , 2006, Developmental psychology.

[18]  Ross A. Thompson,et al.  Links between Risk and Attachment Security: Models of Influence. , 2005 .

[19]  Natalie M. Pageler,et al.  Heart rate correlates of attachment status in young mothers and their infants. , 2005, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[20]  S. Maxwell,et al.  Adolescent Parenting and Attachment During Infancy and Early Childhood , 2005 .

[21]  P. Kroonenberg,et al.  Differences in attachment security between African-American and white children: ethnicity or socio-economic status? , 2004 .

[22]  C. Zeanah,et al.  Reactive attachment disorder in maltreated toddlers. , 2004, Child abuse & neglect.

[23]  Ellen Moss,et al.  Attachment at early school age and developmental risk: examining family contexts and behavior problems of controlling-caregiving, controlling-punitive, and behaviorally disorganized children. , 2004, Developmental psychology.

[24]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Assessing attachment security with the Attachment Q Sort: meta-analytic evidence for the validity of the observer AQS. , 2004, Child development.

[25]  Mary Dozier,et al.  Forming attachments in foster care: Infant attachment behaviors during the first 2 months of placement , 2004, Development and Psychopathology.

[26]  L. Wright,et al.  Attachment status in children prenatally exposed to cocaine and other substances. , 2004, Child development.

[27]  C. Zeanah,et al.  Introduction to the special issue: Current perspectives on assessment and treatment of attachment disorders , 2003, Attachment & human development.

[28]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Attachment disorders and disorganized attachment: Similar and different1 , 2003, Attachment & human development.

[29]  S. Spieker,et al.  Joint influence of child care and infant attachment security for cognitive and language outcomes of low-income toddlers , 2003 .

[30]  Marissa L. Diener,et al.  Attachment Security Among Mothers and Their Young Children Living in Poverty: Associations with Maternal, Child, and Contextual Characteristics , 2003 .

[31]  Femmie Juffer,et al.  Less is more: meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  M. Rutter,et al.  Child–parent attachment following early institutional deprivation , 2003, Development and Psychopathology.

[33]  M. O’Connor,et al.  Prenatal alcohol exposure and attachment behavior in children. , 2002, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[34]  A. Caspi,et al.  Role of Genotype in the Cycle of Violence in Maltreated Children , 2002, Science.

[35]  K. Leonard,et al.  Mother–infant and father–infant attachment among alcoholic families , 2002, Development and Psychopathology.

[36]  K. Browne,et al.  Early Prediction and Prevention of Child Abuse: A Handbook , 2002 .

[37]  L. Roggman,et al.  Stress, maternal depression, and negative mother–infant interactions in relation to infant attachment , 2002 .

[38]  J. Ispa,et al.  Maternal personality as a moderator of relations between difficult infant temperament and attachment security in low-income families. , 2002 .

[39]  M. Fish.  Attachment in low-SES rural Appalachian infants: Contextual, infant, and maternal interaction risk and protective factors , 2001 .

[40]  L. Beckwith,et al.  Maternal psychopathology and attachment in toddlers of heavy cocaine‐using mothers , 2001 .

[41]  D. Shaw,et al.  Attachment stability and emotional and behavioral regulation from infancy to preschool age , 2001, Development and Psychopathology.

[42]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  Practical Meta-Analysis , 2000 .

[43]  M. Main,et al.  Disorganized Infant, Child, and Adult Attachment: Collapse in Behavioral and Attentional Strategies , 2000, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

[44]  S Duval,et al.  Trim and Fill: A Simple Funnel‐Plot–Based Method of Testing and Adjusting for Publication Bias in Meta‐Analysis , 2000, Biometrics.

[45]  D. Guthrie,et al.  Relationship-based intervention with at-risk mothers : Outcome in the first year of life , 1999 .

[46]  C. Izard,et al.  Contextual risk, caregiver emotionality, and the problem behaviors of six- and seven-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families. , 1999, Child development.

[47]  M. Lewis,et al.  Families, Risk, and Competence. , 1999 .

[48]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Chapter V. Maltreatment, Negative Expressivity, and the Development of Type D Attachments from 12 to 24 Months of Age , 1999 .

[49]  K. Lyons-Ruth,et al.  Atypical attachment in infancy and early childhood among children at developmental risk. IV. Maternal frightened, frightening, or atypical behavior and disorganized infant attachment patterns. , 1999, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[50]  C. Graham,et al.  Security of attachment and parenting: homeless and low-income housed mothers and infants. , 1999, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[51]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Disorganized attachment in early childhood: Meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae , 1999, Development and Psychopathology.

[52]  C. Zeanah,et al.  Disorganized attachment associated with partner violence: A research note , 1999 .

[53]  G. Goodman,et al.  Attachment behavior and its antecedents in offspring born to methadone-maintained women. , 1999, Journal of clinical child psychology.

[54]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Frightening maternal behavior linking unresolved loss and disorganized infant attachment. , 1999, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[55]  K. Leung,et al.  Parenting and preschooler attachment among low-income urban African American families. , 1998, Child development.

[56]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  An ecological-transactional analysis of children and contexts: The longitudinal interplay among child maltreatment, community violence, and children's symptomatology , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[57]  B. Vaughn,et al.  Social competence, social support, and attachment: demarcation of construct domains, measurement, and paths of influence for preschool children attending Head Start. , 1998, Child development.

[58]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  Sensitivity and Attachment: A Meta‐Analysis on Parental Antecedents of Infant Attachment , 1997 .

[59]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Variation in Susceptibility to Environmental Influence: An Evolutionary Argument , 1997 .

[60]  J. Belsky.  Parent, infant, and social-contextual antecedents of father-son attachment security. , 1996 .

[61]  C. Patterson,et al.  Environmental risk factors and children's achievement from middle childhood to early adolescence. , 1996 .

[62]  Marjolijn J M Blom,et al.  Frightening, frightened and/or dissociated behavior, unresolved loss and infant disorganization , 1996 .

[63]  M. Deklyen.  Disruptive behavior disorder and intergenerational attachment patterns: a comparison of clinic-referred and normally functioning preschoolers and their mothers. , 1996, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[64]  Robert Rosenthal,et al.  WRITING META-ANALYTIC REVIEWS , 1995 .

[65]  E. Carlson,et al.  Associations among adult attachment representations, maternal sensitivity, and infant-mother attachment in a sample of adolescent mothers. , 1995, Child development.

[66]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Child maltreatment, attachment, and the self system: Emergence of an internal state lexicon in toddlers at high social risk , 1994, Development and Psychopathology.

[67]  T. Husén,et al.  The International Encyclopedia of Education , 1994 .

[68]  J. Osofsky,et al.  Predicting Behavior Problems and Social Competence in Children of Adolescent Mothers , 1994 .

[69]  K. Grossmann,et al.  Attachment Patterns at Age Six in South Germany: Predictability from Infancy and Implications for Preschool Behavior. , 1994 .

[70]  E. Broussard.  Infant attachment in a sample of adolescent mothers , 1994, Child psychiatry and human development.

[71]  J. Milner,et al.  Perceptions and evaluations of child transgressions and disciplinary techniques in high- and low-risk mothers and their children. , 1993, Child development.

[72]  D. Shaw,et al.  Chronic family adversity and infant attachment security. , 1993, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[73]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Toward an ecological/transactional model of community violence and child maltreatment: consequences for children's development. , 1993, Psychiatry.

[74]  P. Kroonenberg,et al.  The relative effects of maternal and child problems on the quality of attachment: a meta-analysis of attachment in clinical samples. , 1992, Child development.

[75]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Attachment organization in maltreated preschoolers , 1991, Development and Psychopathology.

[76]  L. Beckwith,et al.  Quality of attachment and home environments in children prenatally exposed to PCP and cocaine , 1991, Development and Psychopathology.

[77]  S. Jacobson,et al.  Effect of maternal social support on attachment: experimental evidence. , 1991, Child development.

[78]  A. Lieberman,et al.  Preventive intervention and outcome with anxiously attached dyads. , 1991, Child development.

[79]  M. Valenzuela,et al.  Attachment in chronically underweight young children. , 1990, Child development.

[80]  E Anisfeld,et al.  Does infant carrying promote attachment? An experimental study of the effects of increased physical contact on the development of attachment. , 1990, Child development.

[81]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn.  Attachment in Surinam-Dutch Families: A Contribution to the Cross-Cultural Study of Attachment: , 1990 .

[82]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  The impact of economic hardship on black families and children: psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. , 1990, Child development.

[83]  K. Lyons-Ruth,et al.  Infants at social risk: maternal depression and family support services as mediators of infant development and security of attachment. , 1990, Child development.

[84]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[85]  Dante Cicchetti,et al.  Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment Relationships in Maltreated Infants. , 1989 .

[86]  M. Main,et al.  Categories of response to reunion with the parent at age 6: Predictable from infant attachment classifications and stable over a 1-month period. , 1988 .

[87]  M. Sigman,et al.  Disorganization of attachment in relation to maternal alcohol consumption. , 1987, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[88]  S. Spieker,et al.  Successful intervention with multi‐problem mothers: Effects on the mother‐infant relationship , 1987 .

[89]  S. Greenspan,et al.  Intelligence quotient scores of 4-year-old children: social-environmental risk factors. , 1987, Pediatrics.

[90]  J. Belsky.  Maternal, infant and social-contextual determinants of infant-mother attachment , 1986 .

[91]  C. Twentyman,et al.  Mother–child interactional style in abuse, neglect, and control groups: Naturalistic observations in the home. , 1984 .

[92]  P. Crittenden.  Abusing, Neglecting, Problematic, and Adequate Dyads: Differentiating by Patterns of Interaction. , 1981 .

[93]  L. Sroufe,et al.  Attachment and early maltreatment. , 1981, Child development.

[94]  J. Belsky,et al.  Child maltreatment: an ecological integration. , 1980, The American psychologist.

[95]  M. Rutter.  Protective factors in children's responses to stress and disadvantage. , 1979, Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

[96]  L. Frank.  The Society for Research in Child Development , 1935 .

[97]  S. Pallini.  Attachment disorganization: Genetic factors, parenting contexts and developmental transformation from infancy to adulthood , 2010 .

[98]  D. Jacobvitz,et al.  Attachment disorganization: Genetic factors, parenting contexts, and developmental transformation from infancy to adulthood. , 2008 .

[99]  M. Provost,et al.  Another look inside the gap: ecological contributions to the transmission of attachment in a sample of adolescent mother-infant dyads. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[100]  D. Messinger,et al.  Maternal Depression and the Quality of Early Attachment : An Examination of Infants , Preschoolers , and Their Mothers , 2004 .

[101]  A. Carter,et al.  The Oxford Handbook of Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Mental Health Assessment , 2004 .

[102]  E. Tronick,et al.  Level of prenatal cocaine exposure and infant-caregiver attachment behavior. , 2003, Neurotoxicology and teratology.

[103]  B. Lester,et al.  Attachment classifications among 18-month-old children of adolescent mothers. , 2002, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[104]  S. Pallini.  Attachment Disorganization: Unresolved Loss, Relational Violence, and Lapses in Behavioral and Attentional Strategies , 2002 .

[105]  J. Solomon,et al.  The place of disorganization in attachment theory: Linking classic observations with contemporary findings. , 1999 .

[106]  M. Main,et al.  Second‐generation effects of unresolved trauma in nonmaltreating parents: Dissociated, frightened, and threatening parental behavior , 1999 .

[107]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. , 1999 .

[108]  Phillip R. Shaver,et al.  Handbook of attachment : theory, research, and clinical applications , 1999 .

[109]  A. Sameroff,et al.  Family and Social Influences on the Development of Child Competence , 1998 .

[110]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  Sensitivity and attachment: a meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. , 1997, Child development.

[111]  C. Bombardier.  Prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances: Its effect on newborn behavior and subsequent attachment behavior , 1997 .

[112]  J. Belsky,et al.  Maternal Personality, Marital Quality, Social Support and Infant Temperament: Their Significance for Infant-Mother Attachment in Human Families , 1995 .

[113]  S. Spieker,et al.  Roles of Living Arrangements and Grandmother Social Support in Adolescent Mothering and Infant Attachment. , 1994 .

[114]  D. C. van den Boom.  The influence of temperament and mothering on attachment and exploration: an experimental manipulation of sensitive responsiveness among lower-class mothers with irritable infants. , 1994, Child development.

[115]  J. Meij.  Sociale ondersteuning, gehechtheidskwaliteit en vroegkinderlijke competentie-ontwikkeling , 1992 .

[116]  P. Crittenden.  Children's strategies for coping with adverse home environments: an interpretation using attachment theory. , 1992, Child abuse & neglect.

[117]  W. Grolnick,et al.  Infants of adolescent and adult mothers: two indices of socioemotional development. , 1990, Adolescence.

[118]  M. Main,et al.  Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? , 1990 .

[119]  M. Main,et al.  Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. , 1990 .

[120]  M. Main.  Cross-Cultural Studies of Attachment Organization: Recent Studies, Changing Methodologies, and the Concept of Conditional Strategies , 1990 .

[121]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. , 1990 .

[122]  Brian Mullen,et al.  Advanced BASIC meta-analysis , 1989 .

[123]  P. Crittenden.  Relationships at risk. , 1988 .

[124]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Clinical implications of attachment , 1988 .

[125]  M. Lamb,et al.  Strange situation behavior of infants with adolescent mothers , 1987 .

[126]  M. Lamb,et al.  The effects of child maltreatment on security of infant-adult attachment , 1985 .

[127]  P. Crittenden,et al.  Maltreated infants: vulnerability and resilience. , 1985, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[128]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  The relationship between affect and cognition in maltreated infants: quality of attachment and the development of visual self-recognition. , 1984, Child development.

[129]  J. Reid,et al.  A social learning approach to the reduction of coercive processes in child abusive families: A molecular analysis☆ , 1984 .

[130]  R. Rosenthal.  Meta-analytic procedures for social research , 1984 .