753

INTRRAFFRCTIVITY, ATTACHMENT AND PRRINATAL VULNRRABILITY

Lenore Weissmann, Susan Rromelow, Carol Harding & Retry Brown

Center for Children and Families, Loyola University Chicago, 1041 Ridge Rd., Wihnette, IL 60091

Interaffectivity, indicating a sense of emotional intimacy, co~ected~~~ or “being with” and the ability to share on a feeling level, conceptualii as a result of affect attunement (Stern, 1983, has been shown to be related to attachment, a strong affectional tie between mother and infant (Bowlby, 1969). This study continues to explore this relationship and includes a focus on the role of perinatal vulnerability (PV) in the development of interaffectivity and quality of attachment.

Subjects included forty-five middle-class mother-infant dyads who have participated as v01untee1~

in a combined parent-support program/resear& project over a period of five years. Infants (50% each boys and girls) ranged in age from 3 weeks to 9 months at the time of entry into the project’s parent- support program. Mothers ranged in age from 28 to 40 years, with a mean age of 34. The foilowing assessments were conducted within the context of the on-going parent-support program:

1. Interatfectivity has been assessed at an average age of 14 months through the use of a videotaped play paradigm, which is analyzed using the Mother-Infant Interaffectivity Scale, (Weissmann, 1987), an adaptation of the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (Clark, et al, 1980,198S). The Interaffectivity Scale consists of 20 variables, (rated on a 5 point Likert-like scale) which are closely related theoretically and statistically. The range of possible scores is from 20 to 100.

2. Quality of attachment, asses& at 14 months, has been measured by a laboratory procedure identical to Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. To quantitatively reflect the range and variation of the quality of attachment, a continuum of felt security was conceptualized. A ‘I-point hierarchical continuum integrating original Ahrsworth et al subcategories with additional borderline subcategories was created.

3. Perinatal Vulnerability was Assessed as present through structured clinical interviews with mothers. Inch~ded in the category of perinatal vulnerability are such maternal and infant issues as infertility, pregnancy problems, previous pregnancy loss, preterm birth, maternal illness, maternal depression, and infant birth defects, concerns or illnesses. A small group of dyads showing perinatal vulnerabilities was identified, specifically inchtding those with concerns in both mother and child (Group A), concerns only in the mother (Group B), and cases with only infant concerns (Group C).

4. Parental Stress (Abidin, 1983) and Temperament (Bates, 1979) were assessed at 14 months.

R~IUS and Diiuss’o 1. In&at&&y and attachment were found to be significantly correlated (p=.OO8) Both

optimal interatfectivity and optimal attachment represent the existence of a strong dyadic relationship, and the strong significant association may indicate a tie which includes a sense of intersubjective relatedness, and dyadic reciprocity. The use of a continuum representing felt security permitted an analysis of attachment with a complex construct, and supports the continued use of such a continuum.

2. The results of a t-test showed that Group A (perinatal vulnerabiities occurring in each member of the dyad) was differentiated from Group B (mother-only concerns) in relation to the development of interaffectivity, with interaffectivity being significantly higher in dyads in Group A (p=.O21). Despite the small number of subjects, this finding supports earlier studies, (We&mum, 1987; Mroz, 1992) in which interaffectivity was fostered when middle-class mothers identified and responded to their child’s needs.

3. The t-test did not differentiate significantly between Group A (concerns in each member of the dyad) and Group B (mother-only concerns) in relation to attachment. However, it was noted that 50% of those with perinatal vulnerabilities were classified in the lowest end of the 7point continuum (i.e., scores of 1 or 2), while onty 10% of infants not in the perinatally vuhuwable group fell into those two categories. Although attachment and interaffectivity are shown to be strongly related, the interaffectivity scores for the PV group scoring at the lowest end of the attachment continuum were average. Ongoing inclusion of additional subjects mueases the ability to distinguish further among type and degree of vuhterability and the possible role of interaffectivity as a mediating variable.