불안장애 아동의 애착유형과 어머니의 아동기 경험 및 애착 표상

The Relationship between Attachment Classification of Children with Anxiety Disorder and Their Mothers Childhood Experiences

This study is intended to examine differences between normal children and children with anxiety disorder in terms of attachment classification, their mothers childhood experiences affecting their internal working model and representation of attachment of their mothers with their parents through Manchester Child Attachment Story Task and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The subjects were 67 preschoolers aged five to seven and their mothers. This study found many interesting results. First, children with anxiety disorder showed different attachment classifications from family-reared children; children with anxiety disorder showed higher avoidance type (A), resistance type (C), and disorganization type (D) while they showed lower secure attachment type (B) than family-reared children. Second, mothers of children with anxiety disorder reported more experiences of diseases in their family members, parents with mental diseases, and physical and sexual abuse than mothers of family-reared children. Third, different representations were found regarding attachment relationships with biological parents between mothers of children with anxiety disorder and family-reared children. Mothers of children with anxiety disorder showed higher rejection and neglect of their biological fathers and higher rejection of biological mothers, while showing lower representation of affection towards their biological parents than mothers of family-reared children.