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Abstract: In most research involving maternal infant attachment, the attachment construct has been assessed by behavioural observation. The problems inherent in this approach, including its high cost and labour-intensive nature, are briefly reviewed. It is suggested that the behavioural approach could be usefully complemented by enquiry into the mother's subjective experiences towards her infant. The development of a 19 item self-report questionnaire to assess mother-toinfant attachment is described. Using a sample of approximately 200 women assessed at 4 weeks, 4 months and 8 months postnatally, the psychometric properties of the instrument are presented. Acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability were found. The factor structure of the questionnaire revealed four factors which accounted for approximately 40% of the variance in attachment scores: pleasure in proximity, acceptance, tolerance, and competence as parent. Evidence supporting the construct validity of the questionnaire is presented. Use of the questionnaire approach enables the use of much larger samples of mother-infant dyads, and thus provides a potential avenue for future exploration of the determinants of attachment (or detachment). The criterion validity of the instrument has yet to be established by comparison with behavioural measures.
Introduction
In this paper, the term `parent-to-infant attachment' refers to the emotional bond or tie of affection experienced by the parent towards the infant. The important interrelationship and reciprocity which exists between this kind of attachment and (the more widely researched) infant-to-parent attachment is acknowledged. However, the present paper is exclusively concerned with the parental side of this relationship.
In this paper, we are specifically concerned with maternal emotions and cognitions relating to the attachment construct. There is evidence that infantrelated cognitions have significant impact upon the maternal-infant relationship. For example, Bugental et al. (1994), in a laboratory study, assessed 160 women in terms of `interpersonal control'. Women with low levels of interpersonal control perceived the child, rather than themselves, to be in control of the occurrence of negative events. `Low control' women were significantly more reactive, in terms of both autonomic response and negative affect, to the child's behavioural characteristics. Elsewhere Bugental and Shennum (1984) have presented evidence that infant-related parental cognitions may act in a self-fulfilling fashion. Thus, the parental behaviours which arise from them may elicit child behaviours which reinforce the original...