Anomalous maternal behavior at four-months and infant attachment disorganization at one year

The present study examines the link between 4-month mother-infant affective communication and patterns of infant attachment at one year, highlighting the relation between anomalous maternal behavior at 4-months and infant attachment disorganization at one year. The study's first aim was to expand on the work of Bronfman, Parsons & Lyons-Ruth, (1999) and of Kelly (2004), by identifying a select array of maternal behaviors, assessed at 4-months, projected to be salient critical predictors of disorganized infant attachment. The next aim was to determine whether selected anomalous maternal behaviors could distinguish infant attachment patterns at one year.Subjects were 75 low-risk mother-infant pairs. Anomalous maternal behavior was assessed at 4-months from videotaped, face-to face interactions using The Modified AMBIANCE -- Selected Affective Errors, 4-Months (M-AMBIANCE) (Miller, 2010). The M-AMBIANCE, which identifies 9 anomalous maternal behaviors to be coded, is a modification of Kelly's (2004) adaptation of the AMBIANCE (Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification, Bronfman, Parsons & Lyons-Ruth, 1999). At one year, quality of infant attachment was assessed during Ainsworth's Strange Situation (Ainsworth et al., 1978, Main & Solomon, 1990).Results indicate that selected anomalous maternal behaviors capture disturbances in maternal affective communication associated with infant attachment disorganization. Contrary to expectations, it was not the quantity of anomalous maternal behavior that best distinguished disorganized from organized dyads, but the quality of anomalous behavior. Mothers of disorganized infants were more apt to become aggressive with their infants and to respond anomalously to infant distress. While mothers of secure infants behaved anomalously with their infants, they did not become aggressive and were significantly less apt to respond anomalously to infant upset. A subset of secure infants (vulnerable secures) displayed higher levels of disorganization at 1-year and had mothers who at 4-months displayed more total anomalous behavior and overriding behavior than mothers of pure secure infants. Vulnerable secure mothers also displayed more overriding behaviors than mothers of disorganized infants, and were judged to be more disrupted in 4-month affective communication than mothers of insecure or pure secure infants. Results have implications for attachment theory and for the early identification and treatment of high-risk dyads.