Trasmissione intergenerazionale dell’attaccamento in casi di donne con partner violenti: Uno studio pilota.

Early negative experiences could facilitate the formation of insecure internal working models and could deteriorate symbolic competence; in adulthood, attachment style could affect partner’s choice and parenting function. Current research on attachment intergenerational transmission shows that exposure to domestic violence is associated to maladaptive outcome in children. In order to give evidence to intergenerational con- tinuity of attachment we analyzed early traumatic experiences and attachment styles in a group of five family units, who were living in a Safe House for women and chil- dren escaped from domestic violence. The Adult Attachment Interview was adminis- tered to five mothers, aged 16-44 years; either the Attachment Q-Sort or the Separa- tion Anxiety Test was administered to their children, aged 1-16 years. All participants were classified as insecure leading to argument in favour of the hypothesis that an insecure attachment style could be associated to domestic violence.