The Adult Attachment Interview: coherence & validation in adolescents

Beijersbergen, M.D. (2008)

Doctoral Thesis

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was developed in the early 1980s to measure an adult’s attachment representation. Since then, it has been applied in more than 100 studies. This thesis aimed to shed light on some of the potentials and limitations of the AAI. We found that coherence, which is an important concept in attachment interviews, is not defined similarly by attachment experts, linguists, and non-experts. Therefore, it seems that a measure for coherence cannot make the AAI more easily accessible for non-attachment experts. Secondly, we showed that the attachment representations of adopted adolescents were related (1) to their own autonomy behaviors and mothers’ relatedness behaviors during a discussion task, (2) to the adolescents’ emotional investment in others, and (3) to the adolescents’ perceived support from others. Intelligence and perceived temperament were not associated with the adolescents’ attachment representation. These results support the validity of the AAI when assessed with (adopted) adolescents. Finally, we revealed that the AAI differentiates between adolescents with divergent physiological responses (interbeat interval reactivity) to attachment relevant situations: dismissing adolescents showed less physiological reactivity during the AAI than secure adolescents, while they appeared to be more stressed during a discussion task with their mothers.

• Attachment
• Adult Attachment Interview
• Adoption
• Adolescence
• Coherence
• Grice
• Validity
• Psychophysiology
• Interaction

• All authors: Beijersbergen, M.D.
• Supervisor: IJzendoorn, M.H. van; Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2008-04-10
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden