Tommie Forslund

Mothers with intellectual disability, their experiences of maltreatment, and their children’s attachment representations: a small-group matched comparison study

Maternal intellectual disability (ID) is regarded a risk factor in child development, but there is no scientific evidence on maternal ID in relation to children’s attachment. Using a matched comparison design, a small group (n = 23) of mothers diagnosed with ID was studied to help fill this gap. Besides maternal ID, we examined the role of abuse/trauma/maltreatment (ATM) in the mothers’ biographies, along with potential confounds. Comparison group mothers (n = 25) had normal variations in intelligence and matched mothers with ID on residential area, income, child age, and sex. History of maternal ATM was assessed using a semi-structured interview and was found to be significantly more likely in the ID group mothers’ experience than the comparison group mothers. Children’s (M age = 77 months) attachment representations were assessed with the Separation Anxiety Test. Among children of mothers with ID, a substantial minority (35%) had a secure and the vast majority (>80%) an organized attachment representation. Mothers with ID who had suffered elevated ATM were significantly more likely to have children who were scored high on disorganization and insecurity. We discuss possible implications of our findings for societal considerations regarding parenting and child attachment in the context of parental ID status.

Do Individual Differences in Early Affective and Cognitive Self-Regulation Predict Developmental Change in ADHD Symptoms From Preschool to Adolescence?

Objective: The role of heterogeneous self-regulation deficits in ADHD has long been emphasized. Yet, longitudinal studies examining distinct self-regulation processes as prospective predictors of developmental change in ADHD symptoms spanning wide developmental periods are scarce. The aim of the current study was to examine affective and cognitive self-regulation as predictors of developmental change in ADHD symptoms from preschool to adolescence in a sample with one third of the children being at risk for developing an ADHD and/or ODD diagnosis. Method: At 5 years laboratory measures for hot and cool executive function (EF) and parental and teacher ratings were used for regulation of positive and negative emotionality. Symptoms of ADHD and ODD were measured at 5 and 13 years using parental and teacher ratings based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV). Results: Converging developmental paths in hyperactivity/impulsivity across time were found for those high versus low in early cognitive self-regulation, whereas the development of inattention symptoms diverged across time for those high versus low in early affective self-regulation. Conclusion: These results support the idea that different aspects of self-regulation are important for developmental change in the two separate ADHD symptom domains from preschool to adolescence.