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Mental Models of Attachment in Adoptive Parents and Children: The Case of Institutionalized and Adopted Young Adults

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  • Angelica Arace

    (Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Protima Agostini

    (Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Laura Elvira Prino

    (Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

Abstract

The international adoption of early institutionalized children offers the opportunity to examine the quality of mental representations of attachment and their possible revision post-adoption, thus contributing to the debate on the continuity/discontinuity of internal working models and the intergenerational transmission of attachment. The main aim of this study was to investigate how early institutionalization affects the IWMs of adopted children and whether there was a relation between the IWMs of adoptive parents and those of their children. Participating in the study were 39 young adults (male: 15; female: 24) and their adoptive parents (N = 72): adoptees’ IWMs were assessed with the SAT, while parents were administered the AAI. The percentage of insecure and especially disorganized attachments in adoptees differs significantly from the normative data of the reference population. The IWMs of adoptive parents only partially reflect the normative distribution of the non-clinical adult population, with dismissing models being overrepresented. There is no consistency between the IWMs of adoptees and those of adoptive parents. This study highlights the negative effects, even in the long term, of early experiences of emotional deprivation and the stabilization of insecure attachment patterns in the absence of caregivers who can act as a secure base that enables children to come to terms with their traumatic past.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelica Arace & Protima Agostini & Laura Elvira Prino, 2025. "Mental Models of Attachment in Adoptive Parents and Children: The Case of Institutionalized and Adopted Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(5), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:5:p:776-:d:1655520
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. McSherry, Dominic & Fargas Malet, Montserrat & Weatherall, Kerrylee, 2016. "Comparing long-term placements for young children in care: Does placement type really matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 56-66.
    2. Rebecca E. Anthony & Amy L. Paine & Katherine H. Shelton, 2019. "Adverse Childhood Experiences of Children Adopted from Care: The Importance of Adoptive Parental Warmth for Future Child Adjustment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-16, June.
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