State of mind of attachment and reflective function during pregnancy: preliminary data from a longitudinal study

Aim. Attachment research suggests that the child's early attachment and psychosocial outcomes are associated with the mother's internal working model of attachment or attachment classification. However, there are few studies that explore attachment distribution of European women, in particular during pregnancy. The present study aims to describe the distribution of maternal attachment representations and reflective functioning within a community sample of Swiss pregnant women. Methods. For this work, data from the first point of measurement were included from a longitudinal research project still in progress. The 90 pregnant women (mean age: 32.60) who composed the sample were recruited in the ante-natal classes. In the last trimester of pregnancy there has been the first meeting of the research in which the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was administered. Results. The AAI distribution of our sample differs significantly from other non-clinical sample: women of our sample are more often insecure than secure, with respect their state of mind regarding past attachment experience, and the insecure attachments included mostly dismissing and unresolved classifications. The average score of RF Scale (applied on AAIs transcripts) is approximately of 4. Conclusion. The results of this study have important implications for theory, research and clinical practice, pointing out that even in non-clinical samples some potential risk factors can be traced for the future development of the mother-child attachment relationship and for the well-being of the child and mother themselves.