a Department of Psychology and Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics , Wayne State University , Detroit , MI , USA.
b Department of Psychology , NYU Abu Dhabi , Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates.
Attach Hum Dev. 2019 Feb;21(1):70-86. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2018.1541517. Epub 2018 Nov 14.
Children who experience high-quality early parenting tend to have better physical health, but limited research has tested whether this association extends into adulthood using prospective, observational assessments. Likewise, mechanisms that may explain such links have not yet been illuminated. In this study, we test whether the quality of early maternal sensitivity experienced during the first 3½ years of life predicts cardiometabolic risk at midlife (ages 37 and 39 years) via attachment representations measured in young adulthood (ages 19 and 26 years). We do so by comparing the predictive significance of two different forms of attachment representations coded from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI): (a) secure base script knowledge and (b) coherence of mind. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, we find that early maternal sensitivity is negatively associated with cardiometabolic risk at midlife. Secure base script knowledge (but not coherence of mind) partially mediated this link. These findings are consistent with the possibility that early parenting has lasting significance for physical health in part by promoting higher levels of secure base script knowledge.
经历高质量早期育儿的儿童往往拥有更好的身体健康状况，但有限的研究使用前瞻性观察评估方法来测试这种关联是否会延续到成年期。同样，解释这种联系的机制尚未阐明。在这项研究中，我们通过比较两种不同形式的从成人依恋访谈（AAI）编码的依恋表现来测试，即：（a）安全基地脚本知识和（b）心智一致性，来检验生命早期（0-3.5 岁）母亲敏感性是否通过成年早期（19-26 岁）的依恋表现来预测中年时期（37-39 岁）的心血管代谢风险。利用明尼苏达州风险和适应纵向研究的数据，我们发现早期母亲敏感性与中年时期的心血管代谢风险呈负相关。安全基地脚本知识（而非心智一致性）部分中介了这种关联。这些发现与以下可能性一致，即早期育儿对身体健康具有持久的意义，部分原因是促进了更高水平的安全基地脚本知识。
