Building infant-mother attachment: the relationship between attachment style, socio-emotional well-being and maternal representations

The pilot study explored differences in maternal representations between primiparous pregnant woman with different attachment styles and different levels of socio-emotional well-being. The sample included 55 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 38, between 4 and 7 months pregnant. Representatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of reproductive and infant psychology 2010-02, Vol.28 (1), p.30-43
Main Authors: Araneda, María Eugenia, Santelices, María Pía, Farkas, Chamarrita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
attachment styles and socio-emotional well-being
Babies
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Couple and family
Emotions
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gynecology and obstetrics
Health psychology
Maternal & child health
Mothers
prenatal maternal representations
Psychology and medicine
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social psychology
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Summary:The pilot study explored differences in maternal representations between primiparous pregnant woman with different attachment styles and different levels of socio-emotional well-being. The sample included 55 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 38, between 4 and 7 months pregnant. Representations were assessed using the 'R' Interview, attachment styles using the CaMir, and socio-emotional well-being using the OQ-45.2. According to the results, prenatal representation of own mother-as-mother may be significantly related with pregnant women's attachment experiences, but this representation may not be significantly related to the woman's prenatal socio-emotional well-being. On the other hand, representation of the child and self-as-mother may not be significantly related to attachment experiences, but rather with prenatal socio-emotional well-being. This implies that the prenatal socio-emotional context plays a great role as a protective factor with respect to the representations of the child and self-as-mother and, therefore, has strong implications for the future mother-infant attachment and child development, which is very relevant in terms of prevention of attachment difficulties.
ISSN:0264-6838
1469-672X
DOI:10.1080/02646830903294987