Affect Attunement and Maternal Attachment: A Pilot Study

The notion that individual differences in mothers' representations of their own early childhood attachment relationships impede or facilitate the recognition of an infant's experiences and needs was investigated. Women were classified as secure, dismissing, of preoccupied in relation to attachment on the basis of the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) and then videotaped in a laboratory setting with their 10- to 13-month-old babies. Maternal attunement behaviors and fantasies about the babies during the attunement moment were recorded and examined in light of individual differences in maternal attachment. The findings reveal that securely attached mothers are more attuned to their babies than are those mothers who are insecurely attached. Secure mothers attune to a range of infant affect, whereas insecure mothers attune to particular affects and not to others. Specifically, dismissing mothers tended not to attune to negative affect, whereas preoccupied mothers randomly attuned to both positive and negative affect states. Qualitative analyses suggest that insecure mothers misattune to infant affects that threaten their internalized attitudes toward attachment. The findings support the hypothesis that the nature of a mother's internal affective experience powerfully influences the affects she acknowledges and attunes to in her child.     

Reliability of a scale measuring disposition towards hallucination: a brief report

Two forms of the Launey-Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS) measuring disposition toward hallucination were given to 150 male undergraduate students. Scores on both forms were approximately normally distributed and a high test-retest reliability was observed. All the items except one on each scale were judged by at least some Ss as applying to themselves. The percentage of Ss scoring pathological items as certainly applying to themselves was consistent with previous research that suggests that a surprisingly large percentage of people experience hallucinations at some time in their lives.     

Thanatoperience

Near-death experiences (NDEs) can be seen as special cases of psychological transition. They often involve a deep transformation in the sense of self. I examine the NDE as such, according to my phase theory of transition, and I analyze an NDE with the help of that theory. I conclude that the study of NDEs may provide insight into the general psychology of transition.     

An application of the fear avoidance model to three chronic pain problems.

The Fear Avoidance Model of Exaggerated Pain Perception was developed in an attempt to explain how, and why, some individuals develop a more substantial psychological overlay to their low back pain problem than do others. The present paper describes a study in which three chronic pain groups, consisting of Post-Herpetic neuralgia patients, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy patients and chronic low back pain patients were compared with three pain-free comparison groups using the Fear Avoidance Model of Exaggerated Pain Perception. The results show statistically significant differences between the chronic groups and the recovered comparison groups. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the Fear Avoidance Model as an explanation of psychological overlay in chronic pain conditions regardless of pathology.     

The measurement of hallucinatory predisposition in male and female prisoners

This paper describes the development of a 12-item questionnaire scale to measure hallucinatory predisposition. The scale, which conforms to at least one mathematical model of unidimensionality, includes both pathological items and other items which appear to represent sub-clinical forms of hallucinatory experience.The scale was used to test certain hypotheses concerning the link between aggressive-paranoid tendencies and hallucinatory predisposition (using the Eysenck's P scale) in a prison sample. The significant results presented do confirm such a link, although the precise behavioural correlates of hallucinatory predisposition require further definition.     

Posttraumatic stress symptoms following childbirth and mothers' perceptions of their infants

Postpartum psychological distress can adversely affect the early mother–infant relationship; however, this has not been investigated in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth. This article explores whether PTSD symptoms relating to labor and delivery are associated with mothers' early perceptions of their infant. Using labor and childbirth as the stressor criterion, 211 women were assessed at 6 weeks' postpartum for symptoms of intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Their perceptions of their infants, of mother‐to‐infant attachment, and infant behavioral characteristics also were evaluated. In sum, 3.8% of the women fulfilled full diagnostic criteria, and a further 21.3% reported clinically significant symptoms on at least one dimension of PTSD. Those meeting full or partial criteria perceived their attachment relationships to be significantly less optimal and reported more negative maternal representations in terms of their infants being less warm and more invasive. They also rated them as being temperamentally more difficult, prone to distress, and less easy to soothe. However, when the effects of depression were partialled, only the effect for perceived warmth remained. Posttraumatic stress symptoms relating to labor and delivery may adversely influence maternal perceptions of infants, with potentially adverse implications for the developing mother–infant relationship. The overlap with depressive symptoms requires further exploration.     

Reflective Parenting Programs: Theory and Development

Recent research has indicated that parental reflective functioning or mentalization plays a crucial role in the development of a range of healthy adaptations in both parent and child. While many parenting interventions developed over the course of the last 20 years have implicitly attempted to enhance mentalization in parents, this article describes an effort to directly intervene with parents to enhance or encourage the development of reflective capacities. In this article, the broad outlines of a reflective parenting approach are described. Two reflective parenting programs are then considered, one a group intervention designed for low-risk parents, the other a home visiting intervention designed for high-risk parents and children.     

“Ghosts in the Psychoanalytic Nursery”: Response to Lieberman & Harris

In this discussion, I elaborate on the question of why fear, per se, has been relatively absent from psychoanalytic dialogues, and of how to think about the relative primacy of fear, aggression, and infantile sexuality. In response to Harris, I consider some of the ways that contemporary neuroscience and evolutionary theory deepen this discussion. And, following Lieberman, I reflect on why it can be so difficult to hold and process our patients’ fear and trauma.     

The Family Cycle: Breaking the Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma through Mentalizing

ABSTRACT

In recent years, attachment and mentalization theory have been used to guide and inform clinical work with complex, vulnerable adults and children, who struggle to make sense of their own experience or to understand and reflect upon the thoughts and feelings of others. Traumatized parents often have difficulty reflecting upon their children’s thoughts and feelings, at great cost to the child’s sense of trust and safety in the world. In this paper we describe the use of the Family Cycle a clinical activity designed to promote mentalizing in high-risk parents and children with histories of significant and often chronic developmental trauma – with parents whose children are enrolled in an intensive home visiting program aimed at avoiding psychiatric hospitalization. Our aim is to both help them make meaning of their own histories, and understand how these have, in turn, impacted their children. We first present the Family Cycle activity generally, and then use case material to describe its use with a parent in our program.