Maternal attachment style and XXXX associated with childbirth: preliminary results from a European and US cross-cultural study.

@entity1 @entity1316 @entity308 @entity74
BACKGROUND: Insecure attachment style relates to @entity308 in @entity1 , but its relationship to @entity308 associated with childbirth is largely unknown. A new UK-designed measure, the Attachment Style Interview (ASI), has potential for cross-cultural use as a risk marker for @entity74 . AIMS: To establish there liability of the ASI across centres, its stability over a 9-month period, and its associations with social context and major or minor @entity308 . METHOD: The ASI was used by nine centres antenatally on 204 @entity1 , with 174 followed up 6 months postnatally. Interrater reliability was tested and the ASI was repeated on a subset of 96 @entity1 . @entity1316 was assessed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. RESULTS: Satisfactory interrater reliability was achieved with relatively high stability rates at follow-up. Insecure attachment related to lower social class position and more negative social context. Specific associations of avoidant attachment style (angry-dismissive or withdrawn) with @entity74 , and anxious style (enmeshed or fearful) with @entity74 were found. CONCLUSIONS: The ASI can be used reliably in European and US centres as a measure for risk associated with childbirth. Its use will contribute to theoretically under pinned preventive action for disorders associated with childbirth.
