DYADIC SYNCHRONY IN PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS - A LINK WITH MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ATTACHMENT RELATIONSHIPS

The study examined the relation between maternal representations of at tachment relationships from childhood and current parent-child interac tions with their own preschool aged children. Thirty-six mother-child dyads were recruited from a community sample. The Adult Attachment Int erview was converted into a questionnaire (AAIQ) and used to classify mothers as either ''secure'' or ''insecure.'' The mother-child dyads t hen engaged in a 20-min, videotaped play interaction task, The quality of maternal representations of attachment relationships was related t o the degree of dyadic synchrony, as well as maternal affect and style of relating. Secure mothers and their children engaged in a more flui d, synchronous process of give-and-take than insecure mothers and thei r children. Tn addition, secure mothers expressed more warmth and affe ction, and their style of relating was less intrusive and more encoura ging of child autonomy than insecure mothers. Children of secure mothe rs sought closer contact and were more compliant than children of inse cure mothers. These interaction patterns were uniquely related to mate rnal representations of attachment, independent of maternal age, educa tion and SES. There were no differences in these patterns of relating between mothers who had experienced loving relationships in childhood (continuous secure) and mothers who had come to terms with unloving an d painful childhood relationships (earned secure). Therefore, rather t han the quality of childhood histories, it was the manner in which the se early experiences were mentally organized and integrated in adultho od that was significantly related to current parent-child interaction patterns. Finally, these differences in parent-child interaction patte rns that were apparent on the observational measure were in contrast t o information obtained from a maternal self-report measure.