A Narrative Study of Emotions Associated with Negative Childhood Experiences Reported in the Adult Attachment Interview
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Attachment patterns, which tend to be stable over time, are passed from one generation to the next.Secure attachment has been linked to adaptive social functioning and has been identified as a protective factor against mental illness.The parents' state of mind with regard to attachment-as measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2002)-predicts the attachment classification for the infant in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978).Earned-secure individuals have overcome negative childhood experiences to achieve a secure state of mind in adulthood.Earned security, like continuous security, strongly predicts infant security in the next generation.Preoccupied anger is one of the main constructs measured in the AAI that may lead to classification of an insecure, preoccupied state of mind.The current study was an analysis of the narratives of eight individuals whose AAIs indicated mild to high scores for preoccupied anger.All of these individuals have spent considerable energy and resources in grappling with negative childhood experiences.Participants were interviewed regarding how their feelings changed over time and what, if any, events contributed to how their feelings changed.For most participants, the emergence of sustained subjective anger was reported in late vii Generalization and Automaticity .........
Author: Lynne I Hartman
Institution: Antioch University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2218357875