Maternal reflective functioning and intergenerational transmission of attachment orientations in Poland, the Netherlands, and Turkey

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02753-3

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; M age = 38.5) and their children (M age = 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.