ASSOCIATIONS AMONG ATTACHMENT CLASSIFICATIONS OF MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND THEIR INFANTS

Associations are reported among classifications of Adult Attachment In terviews (AAIs) obtained from expectant parents and subsequent classif ications of their infants in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Mo thers' AAIs predicted infant-mother SSPs (chi(2) = 41.87, N = 96, df = 9, p less than or equal to .0001), and fathers' AAIs predicted infant -father SSPs (chi(2) = 18.94, N = 90, df = 6, p less than or equal to .005). Associations between parents' AAIs and infant-parent SSPs were lessened by the failure to predict the insecure-resistant pattern with mother and the absence of this pattern with father. Counter to expect ation, infant-father SSFs were associated with infant-mother SSPs (chi (2) = 3.78, N = 90, df = 1, p less than or equal to .05), which could not be accounted for in terms of an overlap between parental AAIs. A s econdary analysis of the data suggested that this dependency effect of SSPs may be explained by the influence of maternal AAIs upon child-fa ther SSPs. Results are discussed in terms of intergenerational and rel ationship-specific influences upon attachment during infancy, the poss ible influence of infant temperament, and the relative influence of mo ther and father upon the child's evolving representations of attachmen ts within the family.