Maternal attachment style and depression associated with childbirth: preliminary results from a European and US cross-cultural study

Bifulco, Antonia, Figueiredo, B, Guedeney, N, Gorman, L.L, Hayes, S, Muzik, M, Glatigny-Dallay, E, Valoriani, V, Kammerer, M.H and henshaw, C.A.

(2004)

Bifulco, Antonia, Figueiredo, B, Guedeney, N, Gorman, L.L, Hayes, S, Muzik, M, Glatigny-Dallay, E, Valoriani, V, Kammerer, M.H and henshaw, C.A. (2004) Maternal attachment style and depression associated with childbirth: preliminary results from a European and US cross-cultural study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184 (Suppl. 46).

Our Full Text Deposits

Full text access: Open

Full Text - 168.05 KB

Links to Copies of this Item Held Elsewhere


Abstract

Background Insecure attachment
style relates tomajordepressionin
women, but its relationshipto depression
associatedwith childbirth islargely
unknown.AnewUK-designedmeasure,
the Attachment Style Interview(ASI), has
potential for cross-culturaluse as a risk
marker formaternal disorder.
Aims To establishthereliabilityoftheASI
acrosscentres, itsstabilityover a 9-month
period, andits associationswithsocial
contextandmajororminordepression.
Method The ASIwas used bynine
centres antenatallyon 204 women, with
174 followedup 6monthspostnatally.
Interrater reliabilitywas tested andthe
ASIwas repeated on a subsetof 96
women.Affective disorderwas assessed
bymeans ofthe Structured Clinical
Interview forDSM^IV.
Results Satisfactoryinterrater
reliabilitywas achievedwithrelativelyhigh
stabilityrates at follow-up.Insecure
attachment relatedtolower social class
position andmorenegative social context.
Specific associations of avoidant
attachment style (angry^dismissive or
withdrawn)with antenataldisorder, and
anxious style (enmeshed or fearful)with
postnataldisorderwere found.
Conclusions TheASIcanbeused
reliablyin EuropeanandUS centres as a
measureforriskassociatedwithchildbirth.
Itsusewillcontributetotheoretically
underpinnedpreventive actionfor
disorders associatedwithchildbirth.
Declaration of interest None.

Information about this Version

This is a Published version
This version's date is: 2004
This item is not peer reviewed

Link to this Version

https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/8ea25914-d7c1-d6c5-6bb4-bbf353c2ab72/1/

Item TypeJournal Article
TitleMaternal attachment style and depression associated with childbirth: preliminary results from a European and US cross-cultural study
AuthorsBifulco, Antonia
Figueiredo, B
Guedeney, N
Gorman, L.L
Hayes, S
Muzik, M
Glatigny-Dallay, E
Valoriani, V
Kammerer, M.H
henshaw, C.A.
DepartmentsResearch Groups and Centres\Health and Social Care\ Lifespan Research Group
Faculty of History and Social Science\Health and Social Care
Faculty of Science\Psychology

Identifiers

Deposited by () on 23-Dec-2009 in Royal Holloway Research Online.Last modified on 23-Dec-2009

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn)
(DSM^IV).Washington,DC: APA.
Asten, P.,Marks,M.N.,Oates,M. R., et al (2004)
Aims, measures, study sites and participant samples of
theTranscultural Study of Postnatal Depression. British
Journal of Psychiatry, 184 (suppl. 46), s3^s9.
Bartholomew, K. & Horowitz, L.M. (1991)
Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a fourcategorymodel.
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 61, 226^244.
Bernazzani,O., Saucier, J.-F., David,H., et al (1997)
Psychosocial predictors of depressive symptomatology
level in postpartumwomen. Journal of Affective Disorders,
46, 39^49.
Bifulco, A. & Moran, P. (1998) Wednesday’s Child:
Research intoWomen’s Experience of Neglect and Abuse in
Childhood and Adult Depression. London:Routledge.
Bifulco, A.,Moran, P., Ball,C., et al (2002a) Adult
attachment style: I. Its relationship to clinical depression.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 37, 50^59.
Bifulco, A.,Moran, P., Ball,C., et al (2002b) Adult
attachment style. II. Its relationship to psychosocial
depressive-vulnerability. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric
Epidemiology, 37, 60^67.
Bowlby, J. (1973) Attachment and Loss, vol. 2. Separation:
Anxiety and Anger.NewYork:Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1980) Attachment and Loss, vol. 3. Loss:
Sadness and Depression.NewYork: Basic Books.
Brennan, K. A.,Clark,C. L. & Shaver, P. R. (1998)
Self-reportmeasurement of adult attachment: an
integrative overview. In Attachment Theory and Close
Relationships (eds J. A. Simpson & W. S.Rholes),
pp.47^76.NewYork:Guilford Press.
Brown,G.W.,Bifulco, A.T. & Andrews,B. (1990)
Self-esteemand depression: III. Aetiological issues. Social
Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 235^243.
Dozier,M., Stovall, K.C. & Albus, K. E. (1999)
Attachment and psychopathology in adulthood. In
Handbook of Attachment:Theory, Research, and Clinical
Applications (eds J.Cassidy & P.R. Shaver), pp.497^519.
NewYork:Guilford Press.
First,M. B., Spitzer, R. L.,Gibbon,M., et al (1994)
Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I DSM^IV Disorders.
NewYork:Biometrics Research.
First,M. B.,Gibbon,M., Spitzer, R. L., et al (1996)
User’s Guide for the Structured Interview for DSM^IV Axis I
Disorders ^ Research Version (SCID^I, version 2.0,
February 1996 final version).NewYork:Biometrics
Research.
George,C.,Kaplan,N. &Main,M. (1984) Attachment
Interview for Adults.Berkeley,CA:Universityof California.
Gerlsma,C. & Luteijn, F. (2000) Attachment style in
the context of clinical and health psychology: a proposal
for the assessment of valence, incongruence, and
accessibility of attachment representations in various
workingmodels. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 73,
15^34.
Gorman, L. L.,O’Hara,M.W., Figueiredo, B., et al
(2004) Adaptation of the Structured Clinical Interview
for DSM^IVDisorders for assessing depression in
women during pregnancy and post-partumacross
countries and cultures. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184
(suppl. 46), s17^s23.
Hammen,C. L., Burge, D., Daley, S. E., et al (1995)
Interpersonal attachment cognitions and prediction of
symptomatic responses to interpersonal stress. Journal of
Abnormal Psychology, 104, 436^443.
Hazan,C. & Shaver, P. R. (1994) Attachment as an
organizational framework for research on close
relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5,1^22.
Hipwell, A. E.,Goossens, F. A. & Melhuish, E.C.
(2000) Severe maternal psychopathology and infantmother
attachment. Development and Psychopathology,
12,157^175.
Hughes, P.,Turton, P.,Hopper, E., et al (2001)
Disorganised attachment behaviour among infants born
subsequent to stillbirth. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 42, 791^801.
Mickelson, K.D., Kessler, R.C. & Shaver, P. R. (1997)
Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73,1092^1106.
Muller, R.T. & Lemieuz, K. E. (2000) Social support,
attachment, and psychopathology in high risk formerly
maltreated adults.Child Abuse and Neglect, 24, 883^900.
Murray, L., Stanley,C.,Hooper, R., et al (1996) The
role of infant factors in postnatal depression and
mother-infant interactions. Developmental Medicine and
Child Neurology, 38,109^119.
O’Hara,M.W., Stuart, S.,Gorman,L. L., et al (2000)
Efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy for postpartum
depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57,
1039^1045.
Sagi, A., van Ijzendoorn,M.H., Scharf,M., et al
(1994) Stability and discriminant validity of the Adult
Attachment Interview: a psychometric study in young
Israeli adults. Developmental Psychology, 30, 771^777.
Scharfe, E. B. K. (1994) Reliability and stability of adult
attachment patterns. Personal Relationships, 1, 23^43.
Stein, A.,Gath, D.H., Bucher, J., et al (1991) The
relationship between post-natal depression and
mother^child interaction. British Journal of Psychiatry,
158, 46^52.
Stein,H., Jacobs,N. J., Ferguson, K. S., et al (1998)What do adult attachment scalesmeasure? Bulletin of the
Menninger Clinic, 62, 33^82.
Van Ijzendoorn,M. & Sagi, A. (1999) Cross-cultural
patterns of attachment.Universal and contextual
dimensions. In Handbook of Attachment:Theory, Research
and Clinical Applications (eds J.Cassidy & P.R. Shaver),
pp.713^734.NewYork:Guilford Press.


Details