Mothers' attachment insecurity and diabetes-related autoantibodies in their infants.

Psychological stress may, via hormonal levels, increase insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mothers' attachment insecurity is associated with the induction or progression of diabetes-related autoimmunity in early childhood. Adult attachment interviews were conducted with 18 mothers of infants who were positive, and 32 mothers of infants who were negative, for glutamic acid decarboxylase, selected from ABIS, a large prospective population-based project. The proportion of children with insecure mothers was larger, but not significantly so, in the autoantibody-positive group than in the negative group. If an association exists between maternal attachment insecurity and diabetes-related autoimmunity during infancy, it does not appear to be strong.