ATTACHMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH-RISK CONDITIONS

The role of attachment in interaction with other relationships and con ditions was investigated in relation to children's later psychosocial development (at ages 6 and 9). Thirty-nine unipolar depressed mothers, 24 bipolar mothers, and 32 normal control mothers and their children were studied. The network of conditions defining early experience incl uded, in addition to attachment, maternal psychopathology, marital dis cord, other disordered relationships in the family, and recent losses of significant persons. Patterns of mother-child interaction were also examined. Assessments of children's problems were based on psychiatri c evaluations of depressive affect, anxiety, and disruptive-opposition al behavior. The findings support the conclusion that attachment enter s into development in interaction with other relationships and conditi ons. Maternal psychopathology, in particular, in interaction with the attachment relationship, is linked to later developmental outcomes. Th e importance of considering mother-child interactional and disposition al characteristics is indicated. The early attachment relationship tog ether with the ways in which the mother's depression is expressed with her child, and the child's style of coping with the mother's function ing establish patterns of behavior that influence the child's vulnerab ility to later problems. Multiple pathways of transmission of affectiv e problems are discussed.