Robert S. Marvin

The Circle of Security project: Attachment-based intervention with caregiver-pre-school child dyads

The Circle of Security intervention protocol is a 20-week, group-based, parent education and psychotherapy intervention designed to shift patterns of attachment-caregiving interactions in high-risk caregiver-child dyads to a more appropriate developmental pathway. All phases of the protocol, including the pre- and post-intervention assessments, and the intervention itself, are based on attachment theory and procedures, current research on early relationships, and object relations theory. Using edited videotapes of their interactions with their children, caregivers are encouraged: 1 to increase their sensitivity and appropriate responsiveness to the childs signals relevant to its moving away from to explore, and its moving back for comfort and soothing; 2 to increase their ability to reflect on their own and the childs behavior, thoughts and feelings regarding their attachment-caregiving interactions; and 3 to reflect on experiences in their own histories that affect their current caregiving patterns. In this paper we describe the conceptual background of the protocol, and the protocol itself. We then present a case study from our current data set of 75 dyads who have completed the protocol.

Changing Toddlers' and Preschoolers' Attachment Classifications: The Circle of Security Intervention

The Circle of Security intervention uses a group treatment modality to provide parent education and psychotherapy that is based on attachment theory. The purpose of this study was to track changes in childrens attachment classifications pre- and immediately postintervention. Participants were 65 toddler- or preschooler- caregiver dyads recruited from Head Start and Early Head Start programs. As predicted, there were significant within-subject changes from disorganized to organized attachment classifications, with a majority changing to the secure classification. In addition, only 1 of the 13 preintervention securely attached children shifted to an insecure classification. Results suggest that the Circle of Security protocol is a promising intervention for the reduction of disorganized and insecure attachment in high-risk toddlers and preschoolers.

Child–parent attachment following early institutional deprivation

Child-parent attachment quality with an adoptive caregiver at age 4 years was examined in a sample of 111 children adopted into the United Kingdom following early severe deprivation in Romania and a comparison group of 52 nondeprived within-United Kingdom adoptees. Findings indicated that, compared with nondeprived adoptees, children who experienced early severe deprivation were less likely to be securely attached and more likely to show atypical patterns of attachment behavior; ordinary forms of insecure attachment were not associated with deprivation. Within the sample of deprived adoptees, there was a dose-response association between duration of deprivation and disturbances in attachment behavior. In addition, a minority of children who experienced severe early deprivation were classified as avoidant, secure, or dependent using conventional classification strategies, despite also exhibiting atypical patterns of attachment behaviors, and this was also more likely among children exposed to prolonged deprivation. The results raise both theoretical and methodological implications for attachment research on very deprived children.

Stress and Coping: A Comparison of Self-Report Measures of Functioning in Families of Young Children with Cerebral Palsy or No Medical Diagnosis

We analyzed data from 87 mothers of children ages 15 to 44 months with cerebral palsy (CP) or no diagnosis, who completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Parenting Stress Index, Support Functions Scale, and Inventory of Social Support. Principal components analysis of the 15 subscales from the 5 measures revealed few cross-measure loadings. Mothers of children with CP (severe or mild) reported higher levels of parenting stress than did mothers of controls. However, cluster analysis of self-report measures yielded a 5-cluster solution, with no diagnostic group differences across clusters. That is, there were no overall differences in self-reported family functioning according to presence or severity of the childs disability. The results are discussed in terms of the organization of family systems and their relationship to child diagnosis. Clinical implications for assessing and working with families are noted.

Stability and Change of Attachment at 14, 24, and 58 Months of Age: Behavior, Representation, and Life Events

Stability and change of attachment was examined longitudinally in a group of 48 children at 14, 24, and 58 months of age. Whereas attachment classifications showed stability between 14 and 24 months, lack of stability was the case between either 14 or 24 months and 58 months. Mothers of children who did not exhibit stability of attachment reported more negative and less positive life events. No correspondence was found between attachment classification at 14 or 24 months and mental representations at 58 months. However there was agreement between representational and behavioral measures of attachment at 58 months, where mental representations of attachment appeared to mirror and complement behavioral classification of the attachment relationship with the mother. Evidence for continuity of attachment from infancy to childhood internal representations was found only in a subgroup of children who showed stability of secure attachment between infancy and 58 months of age. These children exhibited greater Emotional Openness in the SAT at 4.5 years. Findings are discussed in terms of different positions in attachment theory and research regarding the stability and change of attachment relationships.

An Ethological—Cognitive Model for the Attenuation of Mother—Child Attachment Behavior

During the past two decades there has been an explosive increase in our knowledge of mother-infant attachment during the first year of life.1 This increase refers not only to the content of mother-infant interaction and its development but also to the many innovative observational and analytic tools for the study of behavioral development which have evolved in the course of this research. Three of the most important innovations are the following: (a) the construction of behavior catalogues—precisely defined lists of behavior that serve as the data base for naturalistic and standardized observations (e.g., Blurton Jones, 1972; Brannigan & Humphries, 1972); (b) data reduction techniques such as those of Hinde (Hinde & Atkinson, 1970; Hinde, 1974), which allow precise descriptive statements concerning not only the behavior of the individuals, but also of relationships; and (c) comparative studies of nonhuman primates, which have given us many of our basic ideas concerning the infant’s development, and the development of his relationship with his mother. From these have developed the basis for a comprehensive theory of mother-infant attachment specifically, and of infant behavioral development in general (e.g., Bowlby, 1969, 1973; Ainsworth, 1969). This theory provides us with an integration of a number of perspectives, including those of both phylogeny and ontogeny (e.g., Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, 1969), of behavior and cognition (e.g., Bell, 1970), and of anthropology and ecology (e.g., Ainsworth, 1967; Marvin, Vaeven- der, Iwanaga, Line, & Line, in press).

Partner Support and Maternal Stress in Families Raising Young Children with Cerebral Palsy

Partner support and its relation to maternal stress was examined in families raising children with cerebral palsy (CP). Subjects were 59 Caucasian and 5 African American families raising 41 boys and 23 girls (8–54 months old) with mild or severe CP, or nonimpaired controls. Parents were interviewed; mothers completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form and Dunst Social Support Scales. Partners raising children with severe CP provided more primary care in the evening and were credited by mothers as being more supportive overall than partners in moderate CP and comparison groups. No relation was found between maternal stress and partner support; childs level of impairment and the interaction between partner support and child impairment were significant predictors of maternal stress. Findings suggest a systems-oriented examination of partner support in which families differ with respect to specific functions while exhibiting overall organizational similarities.

Stress in Parents of Children With Diabetes Mellitus

The level of stress experienced in the parenting role by mothers of 49 children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and its relationshipto glycemic control was examined with the parenting stress index (PSI). A subsample of the research group of 25 children with diabetes (≤11 yr old) was compared with an agematched control group (n = 21) drawn from the original study of the PSI on total stress, parent- and childdomain, and subdomain scale scores. The two groups differed on one child-domain subscale, whereby children with diabetes are perceived by their mothers as more demanding than healthy controls. Three parentsubscale differences existed between the two groups, with mothers of children with diabetes reporting less attachment to their children, less spousal support, and poorer health. Analysis of the diabetes sample demonstrated significant stress on several of the child- and parent-domain subscales in a large proportion of the sample. Stress, at levels s≥70th percentile of the control group, existed on the child scales of acceptability, mood, demanding behavior, and reinforcement for 51% of children with diabetes. Elevations associated with stress in the parenting role were evident on the scales associated with parental attachment, depression, and competence for 33% of parents. No differences in the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1) existed between children whose mothers reported high levels of stress in themselves and their children and those whose mothers reported little stress. Hierarchal regression analysis demonstrated a significant relationship between the child stress scale of distractibility, the use of self-monitoring blood glucose.

Development and preliminary validation of the caregiving behavior system: Association with child attachment classification in the preschool Strange Situation

The Marvin and Britner system for classifying caregiver behavior patterns in the preschool Strange Situation is presented to complement the Cassidy and Marvin (1992) preschool child – parent attachment classification system. Participants were 110 mothers and their preschool children (aged 2 to 4 years) with medical risks (epilepsy or mild cerebral palsy) or no diagnosis (i.e., healthy). As coded by reliable, independent raters, there was a highly significant level of concordance between the 5-category caregiver and child classifications in the preschool Strange Situation across the medical risk levels. In comparison to other caregivers, mothers classified as secure in their caregiving behavior pattern were rated as more sensitive; they also showed greater delight and were more supportive of their childrens exploration. Combinations of the ten, 9-point caregiver rating scales were useful in discriminating among the insecure caregiver patterns.

Mothers’ Representations of Relationships with their Children: Relations with Parenting Behavior, Mother Characteristics, and Child Disability Status

Representational models of mother-child relationships were assessed through interview for 112 mothers of children ages 14 to 52 months. Fifty-eight (51.8%) children had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, 19 (17%) were diagnosed with epilepsy, while the remaining 35 (31.3%) had no diagnosis. Relations were examined between dimensions of representations (compliance, achievement, secure base, enmeshment, worry, pain) and maternal age, education and stress; diagnostic group and child developmental status; and mother’s behavior with the child in a problem-solving task. Mothers for whom boundary violations were represented were also less focused with child achievement and experienced more worry and pain in the relationship. More severe disability status was associated with less compliance and more pain in representations. Longer time since diagnosis was positively correlated with painful representations. Representations were unrelated to child gender, child age, maternal education or age, or parenting stress. With educational level controlled, mothers’ support for the child and positive affect in a problem-solving task were negatively related to representations of worry about the child’s future. Boundary concerns were predictive of mothers’ pressuring behavior in the problem-solving task. Findings suggest representations are related to caregiving behavior apart from other maternal characteristics, and that mothers’ representations reflect variability in their children.