Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-gcwzt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-21T11:34:27.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Earned- and continuous-security in adult attachment: Relation to depressive symptomatology and parenting style

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Jane L. Pearson ,
Deborah A. Cohn ,
Philip A. Cowan  and
Carolyn Pape Cowan
Jane L. Pearson*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health
Deborah A. Cohn
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Philip A. Cowan
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Carolyn Pape Cowan
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jane L. Pearson, NIMH, Room 18-105, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The secure working model classification of adult attachment, as derived from Main and Goldwyn's (in press) Adult Attachment Interview scoring system, was considered in terms of earned-security and continuous-security. Earned-security was a classification given to adults who described difficult, early relationships with parents, but who also had current secure working models as indicated by high coherency scores; continuous-security referred to a classification in which individuals described secure early attachment relationship with parents and current secure working models. Working models of attachment were classified as earned-secure, continuous-secure, or insecure in a sample of 40 parents of preschool children. Comparisons among the classifications were conducted on a measure of depressive symptoms and two sets of ratings of observed parenting styles. Adults with earned-secure classifications had comparable depressive symptomatology to insecures, with 30% of the insecures, 40% of the earned-secures, and only 10% of the continuous-secures having scores exceeding the clinical cut-off. The rate of depressive symptomatology in the earned-secure group suggests that reconstructions of past difficulties may remain emotional liabilities despite a current secure working model. With regard to parenting styles with their preschoolers, the behavior of earned-secure parents was comparable to that of the continuous-secures. This refinement in conceptualizing secure working models suggests ways for understanding variation in pathways to competent parenting as well as a possible perspective on how adults' adverse early experiences may continue to place them and their children at risk.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , Spring 1994 , pp. 359 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van I Jzendoorn, M. H. (in press). A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity. Developmental Psychology.Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1973). The development of instrumental competence through socialization. In Pick, A. D. (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 3–46). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1991). Effective parenting during the adolescent transition. In Cowan, P. A. & Hetherington, E. M. (Eds.), Family transitions (pp. 111–163). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1967). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Belsky, J., & Nezworski, T. (1988). Clinical implications of attachment. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 1–17). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Belsky, J., Youngblade, L., & Pensky, E. (1989). Childrearing history, martial quality, and maternal affect: Intergenerational transmission in a low risk sample. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 291–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bemporad, J. R., & Romano, S. J. (1992). Childhood maltreatment and adult depression: A review of research. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology. Vol. 4. Developmental perspectives on depression (pp. 351–375. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Blatt, S. J. (1974). Levels of object representation in anaclitic and introjective depression. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 29, 107–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blatt, S. J., D'Afflitti, J. P., & Quinlan, D. M.Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, CT.Google Scholar
Blatt, S. J., Wein, S. J., Chevron, E., & Quinlan, D. M. (1979). Parental representations and depression in normal young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 388–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1980). The role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior. In Collins, W. A. (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 13, pp. 39–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36, 129–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss. Vol. 2: Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Vol. 3: Loss, sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). Developmental psychiatry comes of age. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well being. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Brewin, C., Andrews, B., & Gotlib, I. (1993). Psychopathology and early experience: A reappraisal of retrospective reports. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 82–98.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. O. (1978). The social origins of depression. London: Tavistock.Google ScholarPubMed
Burbach, D. J., & Borduin, C. M. (1986). Parent-child relations and the etiology of depression: A review of methods and findings. Clinical Psychology Review, 56, 843–850.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (in press). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Greenberg, M. T. (1991). The legacy of John Bowlby. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 347–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohler, B. J. (1982). Personal narrative and the life course. In Baltes, P. B. & Brim, O. G. (Eds.), Life span development and behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 205–241). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cohn, D. A., Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., & Pearson, J. (1992). Mothers' and fathers' working models of childhood attachment relationships, parenting styles, and child behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 417–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, D. A., Patterson, C. J., & Christopoulos, C. (1991). The family and children's peer relations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8, 312–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, D. A., Silver, D. H., Cowan, C. P., Cowan, P. A., & Pearson, J. (1992). Working models of child-hood attachment and couple relationships. Journal of Family Issues, 13, 432–449.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. P., & Cowan, P. A. (1992). When partners become parents: The big life changes for couples. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. P., Cowan, P. A., Heming, G., Garrett, E., Coysh, W. S., Curtis-Boles, H., & Boles, A. J. (1985). Transitions to parenthood: His, hers, and theirs. Journal of Family Issues, 6, 451–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowell, J. A., & Feldman, S. S. (1988). Mothers' internal models of relationships and children's behavioral and developmental status: A study of mother-child interaction. Child Development, 59, 1273–1285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crowell, J. A., O'Connor, E., Wollmers, G., Sprafkin, J., & Rao, U. (1991). Mothers' conceptualizations of parent-child relationships: Relation to mother-child interaction and child behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 431–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, E. M., & Cicchetti, D. (1990). Toward a transactional model of relations between attachment and depression. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research and intervention (pp. 339–372). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
DeMulder, E. K., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1991). Attachment with affectively ill and well mothers: Concurrent behavioral correlates. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 227–242.Google Scholar
Egeland, B., Jacobvitz, D., & Sroufe, L. A. (1988). Breaking the cycle of abuse. Child Development, 59, 1080–1088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in a high risk sample. In Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research (pp. 147–166). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frommer, E. A., & O'Shea, G. (1973). The importance of childhood experience in relation to problems of marriage and family building. British Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 157–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1985). An Adult Attachment Interview. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Gerlsma, C., Emmelkamp, P. M. G., & Arrindell, W. A. (1991). Anxiety, depression, and perception of early parenting: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 251–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harter, S., Marold, D., & Nowakowski, M. (1987). Manual for the Dimensions of Depression Profile for Children and Adolescents. Denver, CO: Department of Psychology, University of Denver.Google Scholar
Holmes, S. J., & Robins, L. N. (1987). The influence of childhood disciplinary experience on the development of alcoholism and depression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 399–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobak, R. R., Sudler, N., & Gamble, W. (1991). Attachment and depressive symptoms during adolescence: A developmental pathways analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 461–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, M., Feiring, C., McGuffog, C., & Jaskir, J. (1984). Predicting psychopathology in six-year-olds from early social relations. Child Development, 55, 123–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, A. F. (1991). Attachment theory and infant-parent psychotherapy: Some conceptual, clinical and research considerations. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 3. Models and integrations (pp. 261–287). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Lynch, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1991). Patterns of relatedness in maltreated and nonmaltreated children: Connections among multiple representational models. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 207–226.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Mussen, P. H. (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality and social development (pp. 1–10). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1984). Predicting rejection of her infant from mother's representation of her own experience: Implications for the abused-abusing intergenerational cycle. Child Abuse and Neglect, 8, 203–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1988). Adult attachment classification system. Version 3.2. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (in press). Adult attachment classification system. In Main, M. (Ed.), A typology of human attachment organization: Assessed in discourse, drawings and interviews. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. In Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Crowing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Serial No. 209, 50(1–2) pp. 66–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCranie, E. W., & Bass, J. D. (1984). Childhood family antecedents of dependency and self-criticism: Implications for depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 3–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, N. B., Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Hetherington, E. M., & Clingempeel, W. G. (1993). Externalizing in preschoolers and early adolescents: A cross-study replication of a family model. Developmental Psychology, 29, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oltman, J. E., & Friedman, S. (1966). Parental deprivation in psychiatric disorders. II. In affective illnesses. Diseases of the Nervous System, 27, 239–244.Google Scholar
Paterson, R. J., & Moran, G. (1988). Attachment theory, personality development, and psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 611–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, M. W., Kerig, P., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1988). Mothers and fathers teaching 3-year-olds: Authoritative parenting and adult scaffolding of children's learning. Developmental Psychology, 24, 832–839.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two- and three-year olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 36, 884–893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale. A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, M., & White, P. (1982). Moods and memories: Elation, depression, and the remembering of the events of one's life. Journal of Personality, 50, 149–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sroufe, L. A. (1983). Infant-caregiver attachment and patterns of adaptation in the preschool: The roots of competence and maladaptation. In Perlmutter, M. (Ed.), Minnesota Symposia in Child Psychology (Vol. 16, pp. 41–83). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1988). The role of infant-caregiver attachment in development. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 18–38). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1989). Pathways to adaptation and mal-adaptation: Psychopathology as developmental deviation. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology. Vol. 1: The emergence of a discipline (pp. 13–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In Hartup, W. W. & Rubin, Z. (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 51–71). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Urban, J., Carlson, E., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1991). Patterns of individual adaptation across childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 445–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, R. S. (1982). Attachment in adult life. In Parks, C. M. & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (Eds.), The place of attachment in human behavior. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Zung, W. W. (1972). How normal is depression? Psychosomatics, 13, 174–178.Google Scholar