Mothers' representations of their relationships with their toddlers: links to adult attachment and observed mothering.

A. Slade, J. Belsky, J. L. Aber, J. L. Phelps

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Mothers (N = 125) and their firstborn sons were studied over an 11-month period to examine relations between mothers' representations of their relationships with their children (measured at 15 months by using the Parent Development Interview [PDI]), adult representations of attachment (measured at 12 months by using the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI]), and observed mothering (measured at 15 and 21 months). Results indicate (a) that mothers classified as autonomous on the AAI scored highest on the joy-pleasure/coherence dimension of the PDI and mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI scored highest on the anger dimension of the PDI and (b) that mothers scoring higher on the joy-pleasure/coherence dimension of the PDI engaged in less negative and more positive mothering.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)611-619
Number of pages9
JournalDevelopmental psychology
Volume35
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

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