Psychometric Properties of the Child Attachment Interview in Italian Context

A Focus on Normative and Specific Clinical Groups in School-Aged Children

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13664128
AutoresFabiola Bizzi (0000-0003-0141-1218, University of Genoa, autor de correspondencia), Yael Shmueli-Goetz (Anna Freud Centre, London, UK; Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, UK), Yael Shmueli‐Goetz (Anna Freud Centre), Rosetta Castellano (0000-0001-6860-4757, University of Genoa), Pietro San Martini (0000-0003-2159-2538, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy), Donatella Cavanna (0000-0002-1771-2878, University of Genoa)
Año2020
Volumen124
Número1
Páginas382-410
Fecha de publicación2020-02-14
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0033294120905515
PMID32056493
OpenAlexW3006319508
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas34

While attachment assessments developed for infancy and adulthood are well established, no such gold standard measure exists for school years, where measures are not yet sufficiently robust. Nevertheless, the last decade has witnessed some progress in this field with the development of the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), a semistructured interview designed to access children's mental representations of their attachment relationships. This study aimed to test the validity and reliability of the CAI for an Italian population, using a normative group and a clinical group of disruptive behavior disorder and somatic symptom disorder patients. A total sample of 311 Italian children (213 normative and 98 clinical) aged 8 to 15 years completed a battery of measures assessing attachment, verbal IQ, and symptomatology. The psychometric properties of the CAI alongside other children (Kerns Security Scale, Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment) and parents (Adult Attachment Interview) attachment measures in normative sample, as well as the distribution of attachment patterns in normative and clinical samples, were examined. The results revealed the CAI to have adequate interrater and test-retest reliability, as well as discriminant, and convergent validity. Significant differences in the CAI's distribution of attachment patterns for normative and specific clinical groups were found. Taken together, the findings show that the CAI Italian version is a reliable and valid measure for assessing attachment in school years and beyond

Attachment measures · Attachment theory · Context (archaeology · Developmental psychology · Discriminant validity · Inter-rater reliability · Normative · Population · Psychometrics · Rating scale · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Personality Disorders and Psychopathology · Psychology