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The impact of maternal characteristics and contextual variables on infant-mother attachment

Alissa C Huth-Bocks1, Alytia A Levendosky, G Anne Bogat

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA. ach@umich.edu

Child Development
|April 2, 2004
PubMed

This prospective study examined the effects of maternal characteristics, social support, and risk factors on infant-mother attachment in a heterogeneous sample. Two hundred and six women between the ages of 18 and 40 were interviewed during their last trimester of pregnancy and 1 year postpartum. Structural equation modeling revealed that maternal attachment experiences were significantly related to prenatal representations of the infant and of the self as a mother, which were significantly related to infant-mother attachment assessed by the Strange Situation. Maternal risk factors were significantly related to prenatal representations, and social support from other women predicted infant-mother attachment. The overall model indicated a good fit. Thus, both individual and contextual factors were important in explaining infant attachment security.

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