L Barone1, F Lionetti. 1. Department of Psychology, Pavia University, Italy. lavinia.barone@unipv.it
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the role of attachment in adoption, first by assessing the influence of adoptive parents on their late-adopted children and second by investigating the role of children's attachment on an emotional understanding task. DESIGN: On children's arrival into adoptive families, parents' attachment was evaluated. After 12-18 months, children's attachment towards mothers and fathers was assessed. Twelve months later, children participated in an emotional understanding task. METHOD: Parents' attachment was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview. Children's attachment and emotional understanding were evaluated respectively using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task and the Test of Emotion Comprehension. RESULTS: A correspondence of 80% (security vs. insecurity) and 60% (security vs. avoidant or ambivalent insecurity K= 0.40) between mothers' and children's pattern of attachment was found. A secure state of mind in both adoptive parents was a protective factor towards children's attachment disorganization. Finally, there was a significant association between children's security of attachment and their performance on the emotional understanding task. CONCLUSION: Adoption appears to be an intervention that assures the adoptive child an opportunity to catch up on emotional development and to partially resolve prior traumatic attachment experiences; adoptive parents play a central role in the emotional adjustment of their children.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the role of attachment in adoption, first by assessing the influence of adoptive parents on their late-adopted children and second by investigating the role of children's attachment on an emotional understanding task. DESIGN: On children's arrival into adoptive families, parents' attachment was evaluated. After 12-18 months, children's attachment towards mothers and fathers was assessed. Twelve months later, children participated in an emotional understanding task. METHOD: Parents' attachment was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview. Children's attachment and emotional understanding were evaluated respectively using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task and the Test of Emotion Comprehension. RESULTS: A correspondence of 80% (security vs. insecurity) and 60% (security vs. avoidant or ambivalent insecurity K= 0.40) between mothers' and children's pattern of attachment was found. A secure state of mind in both adoptive parents was a protective factor towards children's attachment disorganization. Finally, there was a significant association between children's security of attachment and their performance on the emotional understanding task. CONCLUSION: Adoption appears to be an intervention that assures the adoptive child an opportunity to catch up on emotional development and to partially resolve prior traumatic attachment experiences; adoptive parents play a central role in the emotional adjustment of their children.
Authors: Ana Susana Almeida; Jean-Christophe Giger; Sandra Mendonça; Marina Fuertes; Cristina Nunes Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-04-13 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: María Josefina Escobar; David Huepe; Jean Decety; Lucas Sedeño; Marie Kristin Messow; Sandra Baez; Álvaro Rivera-Rei; Andrés Canales-Johnson; Juan Pablo Morales; David Maximiliano Gómez; Johannes Schröeder; Facundo Manes; Vladimir López; Agustín Ibánez Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2014-06-19 Impact factor: 4.379