Disrupted maternal communication and attachment disorganization in children with autism spectrum disorder

By: Levy G., Oppenheim D., Koren-Karie N., Ariav-Paraira I., Gal N., Yirmiya N.
Published in: Attachment and Human Development
SDGs : SDG 03  |  Units: Social Welfare & Health Sciences  | Time: 2020 |  Link
Description: We examined whether disrupted maternal communication, which is associated with disorganized attachment in typically deve loping children, is also associated with disorganized attachment in children with ASD. The attachments of 45 boys with ASD and maternal disruption were assessed in the Strange Situation Procedure. Analyses revealed a link between low cognitive functioning and resistant/ambivalent and disorganized attachment, and children’s functioning was therefore controlled. Contrary to expectations, mothers of children with disorganized attachments did not show more disrupted communication than mothers of children with organized attachments. However, the 4-way attachment breakdown showed that the mothers of disorganized and ambivalent/resistant children had higher disruption scores than mothers of secure and avoidant children. The findings suggest that the expected associations between maternal disruption and attachment disorganization apply to children with ASD as well, but raise questions whether disrupted behavior is a unique antecedent of disorganized attachment or also of resistant/ambivalent attachment. © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.