Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2004-7
Report on a Longitudinal Research Project,Exploring the Development of Attachments between Older,Hard-To-Place Children and Their Adopters over the First Two Years of Placement
The study reported here by Jeanne Kaniuk, Miriam Steele and Jill Hodges explored the development of attachments between a group of 63 children aged four to eight years at placement, all of whom had a history of separations and neglect or abuse. The 63 children and their adopters (42 families) were followed up for two years after placement. They were compared with a group of 48 children who had been adopted as infants (under 12 months of age) but who were of similar age to the research sample at the time of the study. Measures used included measures of the children's attachments and psychological development and of the adopters' attachment status and experience as parents. Uniquely in the field of adoption, this project has included measures of attachment that look below the surface to explore the inner worlds of both the children and the adopters. The children's schools were also contacted for a report on their progress.
BalbernieR, ‘Circuits and circumstances: The neurobiological consequences of early relationship experiences and how they shape later behaviour’, Journal of Child Psychotherapy27: 3, pp 237–55, 2001.
2.
FraibergSAdelsonEShapiroV, ‘Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant-mother relationships’, in FraibergS (ed), Clinical Studies in Infant Mental Health: The first year of life, New York: Basic Books, 1980.
3.
GeorgeCKaplinNMainM, The Adult Attachment Interview, Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 1985.
4.
HodgesJSteeleM, ‘Effects of abuse on attachment representations: Narrative assessments of abused children’, Journal of Child Psychotherapy26: 3, pp 433–55, 2000.
5.
HodgesJHillmanSSteeleMHendersonK, ‘Little Pig’ Narrative Story Stem Coding Manual, Anna Freud Centre/Great Ormond Street/Coram Family Research Project on Attachment in Adoption, Unpublished manuscript, London: The Anna Freud Centre, 2002.
6.
RuthK. LyonsJacobvitzD, ‘Attachment disorganisation: Unresolved loss, relational violence and lapses in behavioural and attentional strategies’, in CassidyJShaverP (eds), Handbook of Attachment, New York: Guilford Press, 1999.
7.
MainMHesseE, ‘Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganised attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behaviour the linking mechanism?’, in GreenbergM TCicchettiDCummingsE M (eds), Attachment in the Preschool Years: Theory, research and intervention, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
8.
SchoreA, Affect Regulation and the Origin of Self: The neurobiology of emotional development, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994.
9.
SteeleHSteeleMFonagyP, ‘Associations among attachment classifications of mothers, fathers and their infants’, Child Development67, pp 514–55, 1996.
10.
SteeleMKaniukJHodgesJHaworthCHussC, ‘The use of the Adult Attachment Interview: Implications for adoption and foster care’, in BAAF, Assessment, Preparation and Support: Implications from research, London: BAAF, 2000.
11.
Van IJzendoornM H, ‘Adult attachments representations, parental responsiveness and infant attachment: A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview’, Psychological Bulletin117, pp 387–403, 1995.
12.
Van IJzendoornM HKranenburgM J Bakermans, ‘Attachment representations in mothers, fathers, adolescents and clinical groups: A meta-analytic search for normative data’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology64, pp 8–21, 1996.
