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. 2012 Jul;17(4):393-415.
doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00087.x. Epub 2011 Aug 29.

Mind-Mindedness as a Multidimensional Construct: Appropriate and Nonattuned Mind-Related Comments Independently Predict Infant-Mother Attachment in a Socially Diverse Sample

Elizabeth Meins  1 , Charles Fernyhough  1 , Marc de Rosnay  2 , Bronia Arnott  1 , Susan R Leekam  3 , Michelle Turner  1
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Mind-Mindedness as a Multidimensional Construct: Appropriate and Nonattuned Mind-Related Comments Independently Predict Infant-Mother Attachment in a Socially Diverse Sample

Elizabeth Meins et al. Infancy. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

In a socially diverse sample of 206 infant-mother pairs, we investigated predictors of infants' attachment security at 15 months, with a particular emphasis on mothers' tendency to comment appropriately or in a non-attuned manner on their 8-month-olds' internal states (so-called mind-mindedness). Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that higher scores for appropriate mind-related comments and lower scores for non-attuned mind-related comments distinguished secure-group mothers from their counterparts in the insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and insecure-disorganized groups. Higher scores for appropriate mind-related comments and lower scores for non-attuned mind-related comments also independently predicted dichotomous organized/disorganized attachment. General maternal sensitivity predicted neither attachment security nor organization, although sensitivity was found to relate to dichotomous secure/insecure attachment specifically in the context of low socioeconomic status. The findings highlight how appropriate and non-attuned mind-related comments make independent contributions to attachment and suggest that mind-mindedness is best characterized as a multidimensional construct.

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