Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Journal of Reproduction & Infertility

Attachment styles in mothers with or without abortions

Authors
Mansoureh Sadat Sadeghi 1
Ali Mazaheri 2
1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Attachment theory not only focuses on child development but also it involves development through life span. This study has compared the attachment styles of mothers who had abortion (Induced or spontaneous) and mothers who did not have a history of abortion. Materials & Methods: 86 mothers who had a history of abortion (42 mothers with induced and 44 with spontaneous abortions) and 45 mothers who had no histories of abortion were selected. All the subjects were asked to fill a researcher devised and the Adult Attachment Style (AAS) questionnaires (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). The data were analyzed by SPSS software. Statistical methods such as descriptive analysis, chi-squared, one-way, and two-way ANOVAs were emp-loyed and level of significance was regarded as p < 0.05. Results: The findings indicated a significant association between maternal attachment styles and abortion, denoting that mothers with induced abortion had more insecure attachment styles than those who did not have abortion and showed secure attachment styles. The results of variance analyses showed that the scores of secure and insecure attachment styles had signi-ficant differences among the three groups of mothers. AAS also showed significant differences in different attachment style scores. Secure attachment style in mothers with no histories of abortion, those with spontaneous abortions and mothers with histories of induced abortions had the highest means. Conclusion: Attachment styles influence individuals’ attitude towards relationship and control of close relationships (Through positive or negative representation of self and others and posi-tive or negative characteristics of relationships). On the other hand, attachment styles bet-ween mother and fetus have an impact on mothersُ attitude toward parenting and their relationship with the child.
Keywords
Ambivalent attachment style
Anxious attachment style
Avoidant attachment style
induced abortion
Secure attachment style
Spontaneous abortion
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Journal of Reproduction & Infertility
Volume 8, Issue 1
Spring 2007
Pages 60-69