title: Understanding the link between maternal adult attachment classifications and thoughts and feelings about emotions.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between maternal representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996), and mothers' thoughts and feelings about their own emotions and emotions emerging in their toddlers. Eighty-nine adolescent mothers completed the AAI and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) and Katz, Gottman, Shapiro, and Carrere's (1997) meta-emotion interview for parents of toddlers. Autonomous mothers demonstrated the most open and flexible mindset around a variety of emotions in themselves and their toddlers. Dismissing mothers exhibited a tendency to minimize internalizing emotions in themselves and their children, while unresolved mothers described the most emotion regulatory difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Child and Parent Resource Institute, London, Ontario, Canada. CareyAnne.DeOliveira@css.gov.on.ca
authors.forename: Carey Anne
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Deoliveira
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Pederson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D010465:Perception; D012951:Socialization