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The influence of attachment representations and co-parents’ scripted knowledge of attachment on fathers’ and mothers’ caregiving representations

Psouni, Elia LU orcid (2019) In Attachment and Human Development 21(5). p.485-509
Abstract

Despite increased engagement of men in parenting, paternal caregiving representations have not been investigated, and potential gender differences in the links between parents’ attachment representations and their caregiving representations are unexplored. The present study investigated fathers’ and mothers’ (N = 77) representations of caregiving, and links to their own and their co-parents’ current mental representations of attachment. Parents were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Parental-Caregiving Attachment Interview (P-CAI), and co-parents’ attachment scripts were measured with the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Our results demonstrate several similarities between mothers’ and fathers’ caregiving... (More)

Despite increased engagement of men in parenting, paternal caregiving representations have not been investigated, and potential gender differences in the links between parents’ attachment representations and their caregiving representations are unexplored. The present study investigated fathers’ and mothers’ (N = 77) representations of caregiving, and links to their own and their co-parents’ current mental representations of attachment. Parents were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Parental-Caregiving Attachment Interview (P-CAI), and co-parents’ attachment scripts were measured with the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Our results demonstrate several similarities between mothers’ and fathers’ caregiving representations, but gender differences emerged in probable rejecting and neglecting parental behaviors. For both fathers and mothers, we found systematic differences in caregiving-specific state of mind dimensions on the P-CAI, depending on the parent’s attachment classification on the AAI. Importantly, co-parent attachment security, but not parent gender was associated with the likelihood of being classified as autonomous with respect to caregiving.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
attachment, co-parent influences, Fathers, mental representations, parental caregiving
in
Attachment and Human Development
volume
21
issue
5
pages
485 - 509
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • pmid:30821634
  • scopus:85062446383
ISSN
1461-6734
DOI
10.1080/14616734.2019.1582598
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2f4f4203-27d7-4eb6-ba7b-f0c5730f4ac5
date added to LUP
2019-03-14 08:10:27
date last changed
2024-10-01 18:20:18
@article{2f4f4203-27d7-4eb6-ba7b-f0c5730f4ac5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Despite increased engagement of men in parenting, paternal caregiving representations have not been investigated, and potential gender differences in the links between parents’ attachment representations and their caregiving representations are unexplored. The present study investigated fathers’ and mothers’ (N = 77) representations of caregiving, and links to their own and their co-parents’ current mental representations of attachment. Parents were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Parental-Caregiving Attachment Interview (P-CAI), and co-parents’ attachment scripts were measured with the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Our results demonstrate several similarities between mothers’ and fathers’ caregiving representations, but gender differences emerged in probable rejecting and neglecting parental behaviors. For both fathers and mothers, we found systematic differences in caregiving-specific state of mind dimensions on the P-CAI, depending on the parent’s attachment classification on the AAI. Importantly, co-parent attachment security, but not parent gender was associated with the likelihood of being classified as autonomous with respect to caregiving.</p>}},
  author       = {{Psouni, Elia}},
  issn         = {{1461-6734}},
  keywords     = {{attachment; co-parent influences; Fathers; mental representations; parental caregiving}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{485--509}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Attachment and Human Development}},
  title        = {{The influence of attachment representations and co-parents’ scripted knowledge of attachment on fathers’ and mothers’ caregiving representations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2019.1582598}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/14616734.2019.1582598}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}