Mothers' representations of their relationships with their toddlers: Linksto adult attachment and observed mothering

Mothers (N = 125) and their firstborn sons were studied over an Ii-month pe riod to examine relations between mothers' representations of their relatio nships with their children (measured at 15 months by using the Parent Devel opment Interview [PDI]), adult representations of attachment (measured at 1 2 months by using the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI]), and observed mothe ring (measured at 15 and 21 months). Results indicate (a) that mothers clas sified as autonomous on the AAI scored highest on the joy-pleasure/coherenc e dimension of the PDI and mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI scor ed highest on the anger dimension of the PDI and (b) that mothers scoring h igher on the joy-pleasure/coherence dimension of the PDI engaged in less ne gative and more positive mothering.