Mother's attachment representations of their premature infant at 6 and 18 months after birth

Bibliographic Data

ID11276582
AuthorsAyala Borghini (Hôpital de l'enfance, corresponding author), Blaise Pierrehumbert (0000-0003-3223-965X, Hôpital de l'enfance), Raphaële Miljkovitch (0000-0003-3140-8730, Université Paris Nanterre), Carole Muller‐Nix (Hôpital de l'enfance), Carole Muller-Nix, Margarita Forcada‐Guex (University Hospital of Lausanne), Margarita Forcada-Guex, François Ansermet (0000-0002-2361-7631, Hôpital de l'enfance)
Year2006
Volume27
Issue5
Pages494-508
Publication date2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInfant Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-9641 • E-ISSN: 1097-0355
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/imhj.20103
PMID28640398
OpenAlexW1980658550
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited32

The effects of premature birth on attachment have generally been examined from the infant's perspective. There is a lack of data concerning parental attachment representations toward a premature child. Because of the psychological stress engendered in parents confronted with a premature birth, we hypothesized that their attachment representations would be altered during the first months after the hospital discharge. Fifty families with a premature infant (25-33 gestation weeks) and a control group of 30 families with a full-term infant participated to the study. Perinatal risks were evaluated during hospitalization. To assess mothers' representations of their infant, the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI, Zeanah & Benoit, 1995 & Benoit, Zeanah, Parker, Nicholson, & Coolbear, 1997) were administered when their children were 6 and 18 months old. The severity of the perinatal risks was found to have an impact on the mothers' attachment representations. At six months, only 20% of the mothers of a prematurely born infant (30% at 18 months) had secure attachment representations, vs. 53% for the control group (57% at 18 months). Furthermore, mothers of low-risk premature infants more often had disengaged representations, whereas distorted representations were more frequent in the high-risk group of premature children. These findings suggest that the parental response to a premature birth is linked to the severity of postnatal risks. The fact that secure attachment representations are affected in mothers of low-risk infants just as much as they are in mothers of high-risk infants points to the need to conduct further studies aimed at evaluating whether preventive intervention for both low-risk and high-risk premature will be helpful

Attachment measures · Attachment theory · Developmental psychology · Gestation · Pregnancy · Premature birth · Infant Development and Preterm Care · Infant Health and Development · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Medicine · Psychology · Pediatrics

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