Narrowing the transmission gap
A synthesis of three decades of research on intergenerational transmission of attachment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7983206 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marije L Verhage (0000-0001-8207-2283, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Carlo Schuengel (0000-0001-5501-3341, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Sheri Madigan (0000-0002-7536-3258, University of Calgary), R M Pasco Fearon (0000-0003-1847-8443, Language Science (South Korea)), Mirjam Oosterman (0000-0002-1487-4775, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Rosalinda Cassibba (0000-0003-0930-3035, University of Bari Aldo Moro), Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg (0000-0001-7763-0711, Leiden University), Marinus H Van Ijzendoorn (0000-0003-1144-454X, Leiden University) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 142 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 337-366 |
| Publication date | 2016-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychological Bulletin (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-2909 • E-ISSN: 1939-1455 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/bul0000038 |
| PMID | 26653864 |
| OpenAlex | W2305732132 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 103 |
| References cited | 43 |
Twenty years ago, meta-analytic results (k = 19) confirmed the association between caregiver attachment representations and child-caregiver attachment (Van IJzendoorn, 1995). A test of caregiver sensitivity as the mechanism behind this intergenerational transmission showed an intriguing "transmission gap." Since then, the intergenerational transmission of attachment and the transmission gap have been studied extensively, and now extend to diverse populations from all over the globe. Two decades later, the current review revisited the effect sizes of intergenerational transmission, the heterogeneity of the transmission effects, and the size of the transmission gap. Analyses were carried out with a total of 95 samples (total N = 4,819). All analyses confirmed intergenerational transmission of attachment, with larger effect sizes for secure-autonomous transmission (r = .31) than for unresolved transmission (r = .21), albeit with significantly smaller effect sizes than 2 decades earlier (r = .47 and r = .31, respectively). Effect sizes were moderated by risk status of the sample, biological relatedness of child-caregiver dyads, and age of the children. Multivariate moderator analyses showed that unpublished and more recent studies had smaller effect sizes than published and older studies. Path analyses showed that the transmission could not be fully explained by caregiver sensitivity, with more recent studies narrowing but not bridging the "transmission gap." Implications for attachment theory as well as future directions for research are discussed
Bridging (networking) · Developmental psychology · Moderation · Sociology · Transmission (telecommunications) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Computer Science · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Psychology · Social Psychology
Case studies
Parent–child attachment as a mechanism of intergenerational (dis)advantage
Links between mothers’ ACEs, their psychopathology and parenting, and their children’s behavior problems–A mediation model
Grandmothers are part of the parenting network, too! A longitudinal study on coparenting, maternal sensitivity, child attachment and behavior problems in a Chinese sample
Parental Attachment Style and Young Persons’ Adjustment to Bereavement
Do ideal fathers differ from ideal mothers? A study on sensitivity, challenging, and sensitive challenging parenting behavior
Relatedness, self-definition, mental representation, and internalization in the work of Sidney J. Blatt
Prácticas de crianza y regulación emocional en infantes
What meta-analyses reveal about the replicability of psychological research
Rethinking the transmission gap
Failing the duck test
NR3C1 methylation as a moderator of the effects of maternal support and stress on insecure attachment development
Unresolved loss, a risk factor for offspring, predicts event-related potential responses to death-related imagery
Maternal nighttime sleep and infant–mother attachment security
Japanese mothers’ prebirth Adult Attachment Interview predicts their infants’ response to the Strange Situation Procedure
Long-term sequelae of mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in infancy
CPS-referred mothers’ psychophysiological responses to own versus other child predict sensitivity to child distress
Adult attachment representations and the quality of romantic and parent–child relationships
Trauma Proliferation and Stress Generation (TPSG) dynamics and their implications for clinical science
Disorganized attachment in infancy
The Mentalizing Approach to Psychopathology
The parental reflective functioning questionnaire
Maternal adverse childhood experiences, attachment style, and mental health
From Victimization to Aggression
What factors are most important for the development of the maternal–fetal relationship? A prospective study among pregnant women in Danish general practice
Maternal Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) Collected During Pregnancy Predicts Reflective Functioning in AAIs from their First-Born Children 17 Years Later
A randomized controlled trial comparing parent child interaction therapy - toddler, circle of security– parentingTM and waitlist controls in the treatment of disruptive behaviors for children aged 14–24 months
Infant–Father Attachment in Infants Born Preterm - A Brief Report
Intergenerational Effects of Parenting on Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Trajectories
Quality of social interaction in foster dyads at child age 2 and 3 years
Maternal Attachment Representations during Pregnancy, Perinatal Maternal Depression, and Parenting Stress
Configurations of Adult Attachment, Indicators of Mental Health and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Women
Mother Behavior Q-Set (MBQS)Dimensionalidad del Q-set del comportamiento materno en muestras de México, Colombia y Uruguay
The Cognitive Architecture of Infant Attachment
Why are some people more jealous than others? Genetic and environmental factors
Life in Perpetual Overdraft
Prevention of Instability in Foster Care
Differential Susceptibility in the Intergenerational Transmission of Secure Base Script Knowledge
The association between maternal sensitivity/availability and attachment in children with autism Spectrum disorder
Prototype updating, contextual renewal, and the role of reward responsiveness in trust learning
A healthy start
Secure Bases Behind Bars? Attachment Histories and Parenting Among Incarcerated Mothers Co-residing With Their Toddlers in Türkiye
Distinct mechanisms linking romantic attachment dimensions to harsh discipline among Chinese parents of young children
Association between parent’s and adult offspring’s mentalizing capacity
Parental reflective functioning in mothers and fathers of preschoolers
I'm with you, baby
No evidence for modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies in adulthood
Infant and preschool attachment, continuity and relationship to caregiving sensitivity
Balanced parenting
Attachment and family functioning across three generations
Secure Base Provision
Paternal Sensitivity and Children’s Cognitive and Socioemotional Outcomes
Is Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up effective for parents with insecure attachment states of mind
A meta-analysis on observed paternal and maternal sensitivity
Self-Reported Adult Attachment and Observed Parenting Behavior of New Mothers and Fathers
Parental secure base support and child secure base use in mexican same-sex families
Different Facets of Attitudes Towards Having Children
The relationship between attachment insecurity and pathological narcissism
Self-protective strategies of parents with ADHD and their children as mediated by sensitivity – a multiple-case study
Mother–Child Relationships and Children’s Psychosocial Functioning
Socioemotional Mechanisms of Children’s Differential Response to the Effects of Maternal Sensitivity on Child Adjustment
Like parent, like child? Exploring the association between early maladaptive schemas of adolescents involved with C hild P rotective S ervices and their parents
Remediating Child Attachment Insecurity
Participant roles in preschool bullying
Trauma and loss in the Adult Attachment Interview
Family health competence
Recoding motherliness and femininity in the Plague Tale game series
The association between maternal social information processing and preschool children social and learning problems via maternal insightfulness and children's social information processing
Where you lead, I will follow
Mothers’ Experience of Intimate Partner Violence and Subsequent Offspring Attachment Security Ages 1–5 Years
Parental History of Childhood Maltreatment and Offspring Attachment Insecurity and Disorganization
Personality and values of deconverts
Does child-mother attachment predict and mediate language and cognitive outcomes? A series of meta-analyses
Contextual stress and maternal sensitivity
Maternal mentalizing and quality of interactive behavior with their infant in the first year postpartum
A new look at the relations between attachment and intelligence
Twenty years of research on parental mind-mindedness
Emotion, Social Relationships, and Physical Health
The Saliency of Attachment, Affiliation, and Caregiving Functions in Japanese Young Adults' Relationships with their Mothers and Friends
Initial validation of an observational coding system to assess child-professional caregiver relationship quality in residential care children aged 6–12
The Quality of the Parent–Child Relationship in the Context of Autism
Parental Embodied Mentalizing and its Relation to Mind‐Mindedness, Sensitivity, and Attachment Security
Hostile‐helpless states of mind
Foster parents’ history of adverse childhood experiences, adult attachment, and parenting stress
The relationship between parental childhood neglect and children’s behavioral problems
The children of the Argentinean desaparecidos
Playing with the child within
Community‐delivered infant–parent psychotherapy improves maternal sensitive caregiving
The parental reflective functioning questionnaire
Parental sensitivity and family conversation
Feasibility of training service providers on the Ambiance‐Brief measure for use in community settings
Paternal and Maternal Reflective Functioning in the Western Australian Peel Child Health Study
Does maternal inhibitory control mediate effects of a parenting intervention on maternal sensitive discipline? Evidence from a randomized‐controlled trial
Relationship focused mother–infant groups
Development and validation of the Attachment Relationship Inventory—Caregiver Perception 2–5 years (ARI‐CP 2–5)
Maternal caregiving representations of the infant in the first year of life
Validation of the Ambiance‐brief
Maternal Representations and Infant Attachment
Intergenerational Influences of Father–Adolescent Relationship Quality
Personality, Psychopathology, and Health Through the Lens of Interpersonal Relatedness and Self-Definition
Methods of Meta-Analysis
Introduction to Meta‐Analysis
Frightening maternal behavior linking unresolved loss and disorganized infant attachment.
Attachment for Infants in Foster Care
Fixed- and random-effects models in meta-analysis.
Security in Infancy, Childhood, and Adulthood
“Positive” Results Increase Down the Hierarchy of the Sciences
Contradicted and Initially Stronger Effects in Highly Cited Clinical Research
Publication bias in the social sciences
Assessing Attachment Security With the Attachment Q Sort
Maternal reflective functioning, attachment, and the transmission gap
P -Curve and Effect Size
The first 10,000 Adult Attachment Interviews
The Method of Path Coefficients
Chapter IV. Maternal Frightened, Frightening, or Atypical Behavior and Disorganized Infant Attachment Patterns
Negative results are disappearing from most disciplines and countries
Trim and Fill
Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
Attachment in Deaf Mothers and Their Children
Cultural Communities and Parenting in Mexican-Heritage Families
Attachment Quality in Very Low-Birthweight Premature Infants in Relation to Maternal Attachment Representations and Neurological Development
Infant‐Mother Attachment at One Year Predicts Children’s Understanding of Mixed Emotions at Six Years
Reminiscing Style During Conversations About Emotion‐laden Events and Effects of Attachment Security Among Italian Mother–Child Dyads
Fostering security? A meta-analysis of attachment in adopted children
Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment in Abused and Neglected Mothers
Representational models of relationships
Failure-to-thrive is associated with disorganized infant-mother attachment and unresolved maternal attachment
Caregivers' disrupted representations of the unborn child predict later infant–caregiver disorganized attachment and disrupted interactions
Exploration of the links among fathers' unresolved states of mind with respect to attachment, atypical paternal behavior, and disorganized infant–father attachment
Foster Parents’ State of Mind With Respect to Attachment
Mothers' attachment status as determined by the Adult Attachment Interview predicts their 6-year-olds' reunion responses
The intergenerational continuity of observed early parenting
A dimensional approach to maternal attachment state of mind
Another Look Inside the Gap
A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview
On the Relation Between Maternal State of Mind and Sensitivity in the Prediction of Infant Attachment Security
In search of shared and nonshared environmental factors in security of attachment
Categories of response to reunion with the parent at age 6
A behavior-genetic study of parenting quality, infant attachment security, and their covariation in a nationally representative sample
A taxometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview
Emotional availability and attachment representations in kibbutz infants and their mothers
Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment
Less is more
| Unique citing works | 103 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 9,36 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 84 |