Attachment Style in Adults who Failed to Thrive as Children: Outcomes of a 20 Year Follow-up Study of Factors Influencing Maintenance or Change in Attachment Style

A group of children identified as non-organic failure-to-thrive between 1977 and 1980 were investigated, assessed and provided with social work intervention and treatment. Those children and their families have been followed up for the last 20 years. The current paper examines the stability of an internal working model in a sample of individuals who had failed to thrive as children, by comparing each individual's adult attachment style with their childhood attachment to their mother. In this sample, several cases showed changes from insecure to secure attachment styles. Possible reasons are discussed for positive and negative changes, as well as cases when there was no change in attachment style. These include the effectiveness of intervention in addition to changes in life circumstances. The findings suggest that when appropriate support and intervention is provided, or when different circumstances or relationships are experienced, internal working models can change.

Maternal appraisals of risk, coping and prenatal attachment among women hospitalised with pregnancy complications

One goal of pregnancy is the development of maternal emotional attachment to
the unborn baby, and this attachment has been shown to be related to later
relationships and development. There are many factors which may hinder the
development of prenatal attachment, including the presence of complications,
hospitalisation, and anxiety. However, women’s appraisals of risk may not be
congruent with medical assessments of risk. The current study sought to model
the relationships between risk (maternal perceptions and medical ratings), coping, psychological well-being, and maternal–foetal attachment among 87 women hospitalised for pregnancy-related complications. Analysis indicated that positive appraisal as a coping strategy mediates the relationship between maternal appraisals of risk and maternal–foetal attachment, and that medical ratings of risk were not predictive of maternal–foetal attachment. Awareness of the potential incongruence between patients’ and health professionals’ perceptions of risk is important within the clinical environment. The potential benefits of promoting positive appraisal in high-risk pregnancy merit further research.