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Maternal Reflective Functioning and Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Orientations in Poland, the Netherlands, and Turkey

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Abstract

Within the intergenerational transmission of attachment framework, this study examines the mediating role of maternal reflective functioning between mother and child attachment orientations (attachment anxiety and avoidance) in middle childhood among mother-child dyads in Poland, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Mothers (N = 758; Mage = 38.5) and their children (Mage = 10.0) separately completed measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance. Mothers also completed the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. Results of the mediated models showed that the prementalizing dimension of reflective functioning strongly mediated the effects of both mother attachment anxiety and avoidance on child attachment anxiety and avoidance. The mediating power of prementalizing was stronger for attachment anxiety than attachment avoidance, and its effects were stronger for mother-child dyads from Poland and Turkey than those from the Netherlands. Findings are discussed considering the cultural and developmental implications of reflective functioning and the transmission effect.

Highlights

  • The prementalizing dimension of maternal reflective functioning fully mediated the effects of mother attachment on child attachment.

  • The mediating power of prementalizing was stronger for attachment anxiety than attachment avoidance.

  • The effects were stronger for mother-child dyads from Poland and Turkey than those from the Netherlands.

  • Mothers’ certainty about mental states dimension of reflective functioning was mainly associated with attachment avoidance.

  • Maternal reflective functioning had powerful effects on child attachment (in)security in middle childhood.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Center in Poland, NCN (grant number: 10 2015/19/B/HS6/02881).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University, 34956, Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nebi Sümer

  2. Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7, 00-183, Warsaw, Poland

    Katarzyna Lubiewska & Marta Żegleń

  3. Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, Leopolda Staffa 1, 85-867, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Katarzyna Lubiewska & Karolina Głogowska

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 S Race St, Denver, Colorado, 80210, USA

    Özlü Aran

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Sümer, N., Lubiewska, K., Aran, Ö. et al. Maternal Reflective Functioning and Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Orientations in Poland, the Netherlands, and Turkey. J Child Fam Stud 33, 288–303 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02753-3

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