Infant Coping and Maternal Interactive Behavior Predict Attachment in a Portuguese Sample of Healthy Preterm Infants

Abstract

In this longitudinal study of a Portuguese sample of healthy preterm infants, the aim was to identify specific, independent predictors of infant-mother attachment status from a set of variables including maternal education, maternal representations’ of infant temperament, infant regulatory behavior (coping), and mothers’ interactive behavior in free play. The sample consisted of 48 medically low-risk preterm infants and their mothers who varied in education. When infants were 1 and 3 months (corrected age), mothers described their infants’ temperament using a Portuguese temperament scale (Escala de Temperamento do Bebé). At 3 months (corrected age), infants’ capacity to regulate stress (coping) was evaluated during Tronick’s Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (FFSF). At 9 months (corrected age), mothers’ interactive behaviors were evaluated during free play using the Crittenden’s Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index (CARE-Index). At 12 months (corrected age), infants’ attachment security was assessed during Ainsworth’s strange situation. Sixteen (33.3%) infants were classified as securely attached, 17 (35.4%) as insecure-avoidant, and 15 (31.3%) as insecure-resistant. In bivariate analyses, multiple factors were significantly associated with attachment status. However, in hierarchical regression analyses, only infant coping and maternal responsiveness were significant predictors of attachment status. These findings suggest that both infant characteristics identifiable early in the first year, such as coping, and maternal characteristics such as sensitivity influence the process of attachment formation.