Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews

Lianne Bakkum; Marije L. Verhage; Carlo Schuengel; Robbie Duschinsky; Ilja Cornelisz; Chris Van Klaveren; Marinus H. Van Ijzendoorn; K. Lee Raby; Glenn I. Roisman; Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg; Mirjam Oosterman; Sheri Madigan; R. M.Pasco Fearon; Kazuko Behrens

doi:10.1017/S0954579421001735

Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews

Lianne Bakkum, Marije L. Verhage, Carlo Schuengel, Robbie Duschinsky, Ilja Cornelisz, Chris Van Klaveren, Marinus H. Van Ijzendoorn, K. Lee Raby, Glenn I. Roisman, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Mirjam Oosterman, Sheri Madigan, R. M.Pasco Fearon, Kazuko Behrens

Institute of Child Development

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Unresolved states of mind regarding experiences of loss/abuse (U/d) are identified through lapses in the monitoring of reasoning, discourse, and behavior surrounding loss/abuse in response to the Adult Attachment Interview. Although the coding system for U/d has been widely used for decades, the individual indicators of unresolved loss/abuse have not been validated independently of the development sample. This study examined the psychometric validity of U/d, using individual participant data from 1,009 parent-child dyads across 13 studies. A latent class analysis showed that subsets of commonly occurring U/d indicators could differentiate interviewees with or without unresolved loss/abuse. Predictive models suggested a psychometric model of U/d consisting of a combination of these common indicators, with disbelief and psychologically confused statements regarding loss being especially important indicators of U/d. This model weakly predicted infant disorganized attachment. Multilevel regression analysis showed no significant association between ratings of unresolved other trauma and infant disorganized attachment, over and above ratings of unresolved loss/abuse. Altogether, these findings suggest that the coding system of U/d may have been overfitted to the initial development sample. Directions for further articulation and optimization of U/d are provided.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Development and psychopathology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001735
State	Accepted/In press - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The work described in this study was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust to Lianne Bakkum (208155/Z/17/Z); a grant from Stichting tot Steun Nederland to Mirjam Oosterman and Carlo Schuengel; a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (430-2015-00989) to Sheri Madigan; and a Veni grant by the Dutch National Scientific Foundation (451-17-010) to Marije L. Verhage. The work described in this study was in part supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; R01 HD102035) to Glenn I. Roisman. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Keywords

Adult Attachment Interview
individual participant data meta-analysis
unresolved loss
unresolved trauma

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Publisher link

10.1017/S0954579421001735

Cite this

Bakkum, L., Verhage, M. L., Schuengel, C., Duschinsky, R., Cornelisz, I., Van Klaveren, C., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Raby, K. L., Roisman, G. I., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Oosterman, M., Madigan, S., Fearon, R. M. P., & Behrens, K. (Accepted/In press). Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews. Development and psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001735

Bakkum, L, Verhage, ML, Schuengel, C, Duschinsky, R, Cornelisz, I, Van Klaveren, C, Van Ijzendoorn, MH, Raby, KL, Roisman, GI, Bakermans-Kranenburg, MJ, Oosterman, M, Madigan, S, Fearon, RMP & Behrens, K 2022, 'Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews', Development and psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001735

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title = "Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews",

abstract = "Unresolved states of mind regarding experiences of loss/abuse (U/d) are identified through lapses in the monitoring of reasoning, discourse, and behavior surrounding loss/abuse in response to the Adult Attachment Interview. Although the coding system for U/d has been widely used for decades, the individual indicators of unresolved loss/abuse have not been validated independently of the development sample. This study examined the psychometric validity of U/d, using individual participant data from 1,009 parent-child dyads across 13 studies. A latent class analysis showed that subsets of commonly occurring U/d indicators could differentiate interviewees with or without unresolved loss/abuse. Predictive models suggested a psychometric model of U/d consisting of a combination of these common indicators, with disbelief and psychologically confused statements regarding loss being especially important indicators of U/d. This model weakly predicted infant disorganized attachment. Multilevel regression analysis showed no significant association between ratings of unresolved other trauma and infant disorganized attachment, over and above ratings of unresolved loss/abuse. Altogether, these findings suggest that the coding system of U/d may have been overfitted to the initial development sample. Directions for further articulation and optimization of U/d are provided. ",

keywords = "Adult Attachment Interview, individual participant data meta-analysis, unresolved loss, unresolved trauma",

author = "Lianne Bakkum and Verhage, {Marije L.} and Carlo Schuengel and Robbie Duschinsky and Ilja Cornelisz and {Van Klaveren}, Chris and {Van Ijzendoorn}, {Marinus H.} and Raby, {K. Lee} and Roisman, {Glenn I.} and Bakermans-Kranenburg, {Marian J.} and Mirjam Oosterman and Sheri Madigan and Fearon, {R. M.Pasco} and Kazuko Behrens",

note = "Funding Information: The work described in this study was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust to Lianne Bakkum (208155/Z/17/Z); a grant from Stichting tot Steun Nederland to Mirjam Oosterman and Carlo Schuengel; a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (430-2015-00989) to Sheri Madigan; and a Veni grant by the Dutch National Scientific Foundation (451-17-010) to Marije L. Verhage. The work described in this study was in part supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; R01 HD102035) to Glenn I. Roisman. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1017/S0954579421001735",

language = "English (US)",

journal = "Development and Psychopathology",

issn = "0954-5794",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

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T1 - Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews

AU - Bakkum, Lianne

AU - Verhage, Marije L.

AU - Schuengel, Carlo

AU - Duschinsky, Robbie

AU - Cornelisz, Ilja

AU - Van Klaveren, Chris

AU - Van Ijzendoorn, Marinus H.

AU - Raby, K. Lee

AU - Roisman, Glenn I.

AU - Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.

AU - Oosterman, Mirjam

AU - Madigan, Sheri

AU - Fearon, R. M.Pasco

AU - Behrens, Kazuko

N1 - Funding Information: The work described in this study was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust to Lianne Bakkum (208155/Z/17/Z); a grant from Stichting tot Steun Nederland to Mirjam Oosterman and Carlo Schuengel; a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (430-2015-00989) to Sheri Madigan; and a Veni grant by the Dutch National Scientific Foundation (451-17-010) to Marije L. Verhage. The work described in this study was in part supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; R01 HD102035) to Glenn I. Roisman. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Unresolved states of mind regarding experiences of loss/abuse (U/d) are identified through lapses in the monitoring of reasoning, discourse, and behavior surrounding loss/abuse in response to the Adult Attachment Interview. Although the coding system for U/d has been widely used for decades, the individual indicators of unresolved loss/abuse have not been validated independently of the development sample. This study examined the psychometric validity of U/d, using individual participant data from 1,009 parent-child dyads across 13 studies. A latent class analysis showed that subsets of commonly occurring U/d indicators could differentiate interviewees with or without unresolved loss/abuse. Predictive models suggested a psychometric model of U/d consisting of a combination of these common indicators, with disbelief and psychologically confused statements regarding loss being especially important indicators of U/d. This model weakly predicted infant disorganized attachment. Multilevel regression analysis showed no significant association between ratings of unresolved other trauma and infant disorganized attachment, over and above ratings of unresolved loss/abuse. Altogether, these findings suggest that the coding system of U/d may have been overfitted to the initial development sample. Directions for further articulation and optimization of U/d are provided.

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KW - individual participant data meta-analysis

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KW - unresolved trauma

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Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

Publisher link

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Cite this