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Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in offspring
Author(s) -
Hesse Erik,
Van IJzendoorn Marinus H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7687.00045
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , offspring , consciousness , attachment measures , scale (ratio) , absorption (acoustics) , attachment theory , pregnancy , neuroscience , biology , genetics , physics , quantum mechanics , acoustics
Parental unresolved/disorganized responses to loss assessed in the Adult Attachment Interview predict infant disorganized (D) attachment. Parental experiences of loss near the birth of an infant should therefore increase the likelihood of D attachment to that parent. Liotti (1992) suggested that D attachment may increase tendencies to altered states of consciousness, and some support for this hypothesis has been obtained in clinical and high‐risk samples. Here, Tellegen's Absorption Scale was used to measure propensities to altered consciousness in two low‐risk samples of young adults (N=136, N=308). In both studies, participants whose parents experienced familial loss within two years of their birth showed elevated levels of absorption. These outcomes (a) support the proposed connection between disorganized attachment and tendencies to altered consciousness, and (b) suggest that queries regarding parental loss experiences should be further explored as a ‘rough and ready’ estimate of disorganized attachment in large‐scale studies.