The transmission of attachment patterns across three generations in families of adolescent mothers: An attachment and object relations perspective.
Item
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Title
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The transmission of attachment patterns across three generations in families of adolescent mothers: An attachment and object relations perspective.
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Identifier
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AAI9029957
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identifier
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9029957
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Creator
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Levine, Lauren Victoria.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Arietta Slade
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, General | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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Adolescent mothers have been identified as a population at-risk, and outcomes for these mothers and their children are related to a complex interplay of psychological, social, and economic factors. This study examined the transmission of attachment across three generations in 41 inner-city families of adolescent mothers. It was hypothesized that grandmothers' mental models of attachment relationships would be related to their adolescent daughters' mental models, and that the adolescents' models would be associated with their infants' security of attachment to them. Grandmother and adolescent attachment were assessed with Main's Adult Attachment Interview and infant attachment was measured in Ainsworth's Strange Situation. However, teenage mothers must be viewed in terms of the developmental issues of adolescence. Thus, it was also hypothesized that adolescents' level of object relations, assessed by the Krohn Object Representations Scale, would be related to their mental models of attachment and would affect the quality of their infants' attachment to them.;There was a strong correspondence between adolescent and infant attachment, although there was no association between grandmother and adolescent attachment. This implies that the transmission of attachment does not proceed in a linear fashion from generation to generation, at least not in high-stress, low-income families. This study does suggest that it is possible, though difficult, to reformulate early maladaptive attachment patterns and form secure relationships with one's children. In addition, adolescent object relations were strongly related to both adolescent and infant attachment. A number of ways were suggested that attachment and object relations theory and research could inform each other in future studies.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
