title: Attachment representations in mothers of preterm infants.
abstract: The aim of the study was to assess attachment representations in mothers of preterm infants using the Working Model of Child Interview (WMCI) at the 12 months of the infant's corrected age. In addition, the relation between WMCI representation categories and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score at 6 months of the infant's corrected age was studied. There were 38 mothers of preterm infants (<1500 g or <32 gestational weeks) and 45 mothers of full-term infants. The results showed no differences between the study groups in the distribution of the three main representation categories (balanced, disengaged and distorted). However, there were qualitative differences in representations between the groups. Furthermore, maternal depression symptoms were associated with distorted representation category. We suggest that despite the qualitative differences in the mothers' representations, mothers of preterm infants are as likely to form balanced attachments with their infants as mothers of full-term infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland. riikka.korja@utu.fi
authors.forename: Riikka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Korja
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Savonlahti
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haataja
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lapinleimu
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Manninen
authors.forename: Jorma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piha
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lehtonen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D055815:Young Adult