Development of Attachment in Families with Preterm Child: a Long-Term Study

Major hypotheses: 1) Preterm birth is a dangerous and stressful event for the family. The parental Internal Working Models and couple attachment will be activated with defensive and adaptive behaviours that can influence the family relationships and the development of preterm child attachment. 2) During perinatal period the emotive states of mothers and fathers are connected. 3) The psychological characteristics of the father are important for the protection of the family and the development of secure attachment in the child. Assessment: - Sample: couples with preterm birth children (≤1500 gr.) and couple with term birth children (≥2500 gr.) studied from 3 months to 1 year corrected age. - Methods: At 3 months corrected age: Mother-Child and Father-Child: • Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index (CARE-Index) (Crittenden 1979-2004) Parents: • Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George , Kaplan, Main 1986; Crittenden 1999) • Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff 1977) for evaluation of depressive symptoms • Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier 1976) for evaluation of couple adaptation and partner representations • State Trait Anxiety Inventory Y2 (STAI-Y2) (Spielberger et al. 1983) for evaluation of trait anxiety At 1 year corrected age: Mother-child: • Strange Situation (SS) (Ainsworth, Witting 1969) Status of the research: 10 preterm couples and 10 term couples were studied at 3 months corrected age. Preterm mothers and fathers presented high risk interactive behaviours at CARE index (low scores at Dyadic Sensibility Scale, p<0.04). In fathers a lower couple adaptation at DAS was evident (p<0.04). Preliminary data were presented in some congresses: 1) Baldoni F., Facondini E., Landini A., Piccioni A, Cardellini L., Romeo N., Alessandroni R., Faldella G., Trombini E. (2006): Attaccamento e vissuto emotivo in famiglie con neonati pretermine. Atti 12° Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Neonatologia (Montecatini Terme 28-31 Maggio 2006), Acta Neonatologica & Pediatrica, 20 (3), PP. 289-290. 2) Baldoni F., Facondini E., Landini A., Trombini E. (2006): Attaccamento e fattori di rischio psicologico in famiglie con neonati pretermine. Abstracts Congresso Nazionale della Sezione di Psicologia Clinica e Dinamica Dell’Associazione Italiana di Psicologia (Rovereto 15-17 Settembre 2006), MART, Rovereto-Trento, p. 61. 3) Facondini E., Baldoni F., Landini A., Trombini E. (2006): Attaccamento e vissuto emotivo in famiglie con neonati pretermine. In: Cicognani E., Palestini L. (a cura di): Promuovere benessere con persone, gruppi, comunità. Atti VII Congresso Nazionale di Psicologia della Salute (Cesena 28-30 Settembre 2006), Soc. Ed. “Il Ponte Vecchio”, Cesena, pp. 281-282. 4) Baldoni F., Facondini E., Landini A., Trombini E. (2006): Attaccamento ed elaborazione della sofferenza in famiglie con neonati pretermine. In Ercolani M., Rossi N., Trombini E. (a cura di): Abstracts III Congresso Nazionale di Clinica Psicologica: L’esperienza del dolore nella pratica sanitaria: tra psiche e corpo. (Bologna 3-4 Novembre 2006), Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Rabbi, Bologna, p.53 Why the research is important to the DMM: in this long-term research attachment evaluation will be made using DMM and confronting different instruments (CARE index, Strange Situation, AAI).