Citation

Stronach EP, Toth SL, Rogosch FA, Oshri A, Todd Manly J, Cicchetti D. Child Maltreat. 2011; 16(2): 137-145.

Affiliation

Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Mt. Hope Family Center, Rochester, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077559511398294

PMID

21339198

Abstract

Attachment security and internal representations of mothers, and of the mother-child relationship, were examined in an ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged sample of maltreated (N = 92) and nonmaltreated (N = 31) preschool-aged children. Maltreated preschoolers had lower rates of secure attachment and higher rates of disorganized attachment than did nonmaltreated preschoolers. Maltreatment also was associated with less positive global representations of the mother-child relationship relative to the nonmaltreated comparison group. Analyses were conducted to determine whether maltreatment characteristics such as subtype, chronicity, severity, and frequency were associated with attachment organization and with internal representations. Implications of these results for developmental theory and intervention with maltreated children are discussed.

Language: en