CAN THE MATCHING OF THE ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE HAVE AN EFFECT ON BOTH THE MOTHERS’ AND THE FATHERS’ INDIVIDUAL AND RELATIONAL VARIABLES IN THE TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD?

Cataudella S.;Lampis J.;Busonera A.;Gnazzo A.;Terrone G.

2018-01-01

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Abstract

Research showed that secure states of mind with respect to attachment represent an asset for adults in dyadic relationships with partners and children. With respect to the quality of couple relationship during the transition to parenthood, the Secure attachment seems to predict a better couple relationship while the Insecure attachment a worst couple relationship (Paley et al., 2002). The current study aimed to assess the mutual effect of both the mothers‘ and fathers‘ adult attachment on the individual and the relational variables in the transition to parenthood. The participants at the study were 18 pregnant couples attending a prenatal education classes. The study consisted in 3 separate steps. In the first step (T1, 3rd trimester of pregnancy), we administered the questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, the Ces-D (Radloff, 1977); the DAS (Spanier, 1976); the MSPSS (Zimet et al, 1988), and the AAI (George et al, 1996). In the second step (T2, 3 months after childbirth) and in the third step (T3, 18 months after childbirth) we administered the Ces-D, the DAS and the MSPSS. We found 27/36 securely attached parents while 9/36 insecurely attached. Regarding the matching we found 9 securely attached couples (secure mothers/secure fathers) and 9 mixed couple (4 insecure mothers/secure fathers; 5 secure mothers/insecure fathers). Test di Wilcoxon (T1vsT2; T1vsT3; T2vsT3). Ces-D: Secure couples: ns; Mixed couples: T1> T2 (0.029); T2 < T3 (0.036). DAS: Secure couples: T1> T3 (0.008); T2 >T3 (0.009).; Mixed couples: ns. MSPSS: Secure couples: ns; Mixed couples: ns. Each of these configurations (secure/secure; secure/insecure) showed different effects on psychological well-being and the quality of couple relationship during the transition to parenthood. These findings point out the protective effects of the Secure attachment and have interesting implications for understanding the process of transition to parenthood.