Abstract
Aims: This study examined concordance in the attachment strategies of school-aged siblings
with reference to environmental risk in terms of poverty and maltreatment. It also investigated
the effect of child maltreatment and maternal mental illness on children’s psychosocial functioning
in terms of the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) including
unresolved trauma and the DMM Depressed modifier.
Methods: The attachment strategies of 30 sibling pairs, aged 5–14 years, were assessed using the
School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA). Unlike most previous studies, this study included
siblings from large families of two to six children.
Results: The main finding was that as environmental risk increases, the diversity of sibling
attachment strategies decreases with greater recourse to the DMM Type A3-6 and A/C strategies.
Unlike previous studies, the highest level of concordance was found in sibling pairs with the
opposite gender. Boys whose mothers had a history of mental illness were significantly more
likely than girls to be assessed with the DMM-depression modifier.
Conclusion: As danger increases, children in the same family experience more of the same
childhood. Further research should focus on single case, intra-familial studies to build a systemic
model of the shared environment. Research should also evaluate the effects of environmental
risk compared with size of the sibling group on children’s attachment strategies. The clinical
implications point to the importance of assessing all children in the family using a model built
around functional formulation rather than diagnosing the symptoms of a particular child.
with reference to environmental risk in terms of poverty and maltreatment. It also investigated
the effect of child maltreatment and maternal mental illness on children’s psychosocial functioning
in terms of the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) including
unresolved trauma and the DMM Depressed modifier.
Methods: The attachment strategies of 30 sibling pairs, aged 5–14 years, were assessed using the
School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA). Unlike most previous studies, this study included
siblings from large families of two to six children.
Results: The main finding was that as environmental risk increases, the diversity of sibling
attachment strategies decreases with greater recourse to the DMM Type A3-6 and A/C strategies.
Unlike previous studies, the highest level of concordance was found in sibling pairs with the
opposite gender. Boys whose mothers had a history of mental illness were significantly more
likely than girls to be assessed with the DMM-depression modifier.
Conclusion: As danger increases, children in the same family experience more of the same
childhood. Further research should focus on single case, intra-familial studies to build a systemic
model of the shared environment. Research should also evaluate the effects of environmental
risk compared with size of the sibling group on children’s attachment strategies. The clinical
implications point to the importance of assessing all children in the family using a model built
around functional formulation rather than diagnosing the symptoms of a particular child.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 421-435 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jul 2017 |