Adult attachment interviews (AAI) are commonly used to measure the attachment of adults to their own parents and how they perceive the influence these attachments have on latter relationships. This study aimed to provide further insight into this subject by using thematic analysis of a video recording and related transcript of a semi-structured AAI to explore insider feedback from the participant. In recognition of the various perspectives of the attachment theory as to the importance of childhood relationships on adult relationships, this was done within the meanings of the research question: “How do adults perceive that significant others (i.e. parents) in their lives have affected their development?”
Method
The research was conducted by a psychology student of The Open University who analysed existing material consisting of a pre-recorded semi-structured adult attachment interview (The Open University, 2007) and a transcript thereof supplied by The Open University (see Appendix 1). Each line on the transcript has been numbered in sequential order from beginning to end (see Appendix 1). This method has been chosen as the preferred data collection method due to the fact that it allows for an “insider viewpoint” by the participant. The researcher made additional notes (see Appendix 2) about the participant and interview during the data familiarisation process.
The participant (provided by The Open University) was a 50-year-old white British female, identified as “Chloe” (not her real name). The published video was a reconstruction (with an actress) of extracts of the original interview ensuring protection of the identity and confidentiality of the actual participant. The interview was conducted by a fellow researcher of The Open University who gained consent from the participant to use the material for the purpose of the research. The participant was fully briefed prior to the interview with a clear option to withdraw from the research at any given time during or after the interview. The participant signed the consent form after being debriefed at the end of the interview.
Analysis
In reviewing the interview transcript, whilst maintaining a focus on the research question “How do adults perceive that significant others in their lives have affected their development?” four main themes emerged:
(i) Loss and Change
Chloe’s earliest childhood memories start with the loss of her father. This loss/absence, and its subsequent consequences, defined her childhood and early adulthood.
I don’t remember from when I was very little, I remember mostly from, from when my father left. He left when I was about eight [Lines 20-21]
The departure of her father had a profound psychological effect on Chloe’s mother who changed dramatically, indicating the beginning of Chloe’s insecure childhood.
And I remember her being...quite a playful person. And then when he left she just became really, really down and very, very needy. [Lines 25-27]
The absence of her father was the cause of Chloe losing her childhood innocence in that she had to change her role in the household:
Fill in for my dad and sort of be, be a grown-up. [Lines 27-28]
(ii) Responsibility
Her path from insecure childhood to earned security is demonstrated by Chloe throughout the interview by her awareness of responsibility in the diverse relationships with significant others in her life. With the loss of her father she exercised responsibilities of various household chores which she associated with male members of the household:
[I] did the garden and washed the car […] if a plug needed fixing [lines 29-30]
She extended this sense of responsibility on a psychological level:
I sort of took on that “I’m a strong and helpful person” role. [Line 31]
Chloe also took on the responsibility for her mother’s emotional needs whilst neglecting her own:
[Y]ou’ve got to sort of limit everything around [your mother’s feelings] because that’s the thing that’s of importance to her... [Lines 55-56]
Chloe struggled to depart from feeling responsible for her mother’s psychological well-being in her early adulthood resulting in the breakdown of her marriage:
I’d gone away, I’d left her, I’d got married ... so I felt really bad about that, and I felt like I was deserting her... [Lines 111-112]
I felt very responsible for her happiness. [Line 138]
Chloe gradually managed to understand that she was responsible for her own happiness and illustrated it in her renewed relationship with her father:
[W]e both persisted at it, we both sort of continued this relationship and developed it further... [Line 82]
Chloe eventually managed to understand her own needs and that her primary responsibility was towards herself, enabling her to move forward towards her own happiness:
And I actually chose to sort of move away because that’s what I needed to do... [Lines 140-141]
(iii) Emotional needs
Chloe illustrated how she successfully revised her IWM, by describing her initial unfulfilled emotional needs and eventual emotional stability. She starts by demonstrating neglect of her own emotional needs as a child:
[Y]ou’ve got to sort of limit everything around [your mother’s feelings] because that’s the thing that’s of importance to her... [Lines 55-56]
Her mother contributed to this neglect in her inability to comfort or support Chloe in her emotional needs:
[S]he wasn’t comfortable if I was very happy; she wasn’t comfortable if I was miserable [Lines 131-134]
As a young child she found solace in imagining her father as supportive and understanding of her emotions:
[My image of him was that] I could be sad or happy or this or that, and he would love me and he would sort of understand me. [Lines 69-71]
She did however find herself again in an emotional wilderness in that her father was not able to understand/support her in her emotional needs:
[I]f I’m sad or if I’m grumpy about something, he absolutely doesn’t know what to do about that [Lines 87-88]
She was able to eventually find internal emotional calm and satisfaction in her new relationship successfully turning around her IWM:
I feel like I’m allowed more, more feelings [Lines 120-121]
(iv) Understanding/ Acceptance
Chloe established a clear understanding of how vertical relationships in the lives of individuals may influence their latter behaviour by comparing her mother’s childhood experiences with her behaviour:
[H]er mum died when she was about four [..] the repercussions that that had [Lines 45-49]
She illustrated her earned security in accepting her father’s inability to support her emotionally:
[H]e just is like he is […] that’s […] normal and okay [Lines 88-90]
Chloe finally emphasises her understanding of her own importance and internal acceptance in allowing herself emotional happiness:
I feel like I’m allowed more, more feelings” [Lines 121-122]
Discussion
The aim of this study was to estimate how adults perceive that significant others in their lives have affected their development. Within the theme (i) loss and change, it can be seen that Chloe’s life and mental state have been affected by her vertical relationships (child-parent). This is in line with the observation of Bowlby (1969/82 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 28-29) that the vertical relationships (child-parent) of individuals have a significant effect on their mental life contributing to their psychological well-being. Chloe accentuates this observation by vividly describing the impact of the psychological changes to her primary caretaker (mother) from playful and fun to depressed and dismissive, on her own psychological way of thinking and being. The sudden loss and subsequent changes deprived young Chloe of a “secure base” which sets the basis for future reactions and relationships (Wood et al, 2007, p. 22).
Chloe positioned her childhood within the insecure, anxious ambivalent attachment style identified by Ainsworth et al (1978 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 30-31) studying attachment patterns of infants. Chloe tried to counter this by taking up various responsibilities to portray herself as a strong and responsible person as identified in the theme (ii) responsibilities. Hazan and Shaver (1987 as cited in Wood et al, 2007, pp. 23-24) found by means of their ‘love quiz’ studies, that individuals tend to carry this forward into their adult-adult relationships later in life. The adult relationships of Chloe seem to conform to this finding in that she struggled to escape her insecure childhood attachment type by holding onto her responsibility towards her mother’s interests - the same way she relinquished her own childhood innocence by taking on the responsibility of filling both the physical and psychological void left by her father’s absence. In her early childhood Chloe gives the idea that this process is, as per the claim of Bowlby (1969/82 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 28-29), irreversible in that she carried this feeling of responsibility for her mother’s happiness into her marriage in such a strong way that it resulted in the break-down of her marriage further emphasising the findings of Hazan and Shaver (1987 as cited in Wood et al, 2007, pp. 23-24).
Main and Goldwyn (1984 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 26-27) argued that an individual can, in contrast to the claim of change resistance by the IWM (Bowlby, 1969/82 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 28-29), transform their IWM as is evident in the path from insecure childhood to earned security in the theme (iii) emotional needs. Chloe was left with unfulfilled emotional needs after the profound psychological change of her mother due to the loss of her father. This continued throughout her later relationship with her father and her marriage. She managed to work through her relationship with her father and found a strong and positive relationship with her new partner enabling her to revise her IWM of herself and herself in relation to others. This is in line with the claims of attachment theorists Rutter, Quinton & Hill (1990 as cited in Wood et al, 2007, p. 27) and Main and Goldwin (1984 as cited in: Wood et al, 2007, pp. 26-27) arguing that positive adult-adult relationships can earn an individual security.
Chloe brings the various concepts of the attachment theory perspectives together in the theme (iv) understanding/acceptance. She firstly reflects on the effect of the horizontal relationships on later vertical relationships such as those of her mother and her own failed marriage. She goes on by emphasising her paradigm shift in accepting and understanding the characteristics of significant others in her life (being her mother and later her father) and concludes by illustrating how she managed to successfully change her IWM earning her security and eventual happiness.
In conclusion, it can be seen that childhood attachments have an influence on the development and latter relationships of Chloe. She illustrates her own maturity process through her ability to change her own internal working model in her path from insecure childhood to earned security. This seems to give emphasis to the research question asking if adults do perceive that the significant others, in this case the parents of Chloe; have an influence on their development. Chloe illustrates how vertical relationships in her childhood had telling effects on her own psychological well-being and internal working model. Having said that, she also underlines the theoretical understanding by attachment theorists that this is not a fixed but a reversible process. She does this by explaining how she, through reflective functioning, managed to change from an insecure childhood to earned security in later life.
Reflexive analysis
During the initial data familiarisation and subsequent categorisation of items I constantly found myself mentally drawing parallels between Chloe’s narrative and aspects of my own childhood. Although different in nature and less centered on an initial dramatic event (i.e. loss of a parent), I could relate strongly with the emotional struggles and childhood atmosphere of “a child should be seen and not be heard” view, as described by Chloe. This might have resulted in biasness in the identification of certain themes and patterns of meaning extracted.
I noted a lack of emotional expressions (i.e. body language, voice bending) other than deliberate descriptive words (i.e. “grumpy”) by the participant (see Appendix 2). This may be due to the fact that it was a reconstruction whereby the actress did not correctly portray the initial participant; or due to the fact that I expected a more “fire-in-the-belly” approach due to my own personal experiences and cultural practices. Contributing further to this observation, may be the fact that the initial participant, who is portrayed as being totally at ease with the researcher and presence of recording equipment, may have talked about this aspect of her life on a regular basis or might have been personally familiar with the researcher. This may possibly also have had an influence on my own analysis of the interview – if I was more familiar with the participant I might have noticed and emphasised various other patterns of meaning expressed by Chloe.
Having said that and being fully aware of the fact that researcher biasness does play a role in the qualitative data analysis, I ensured (as far as possible) that I kept my focus on the initial research question, epistemology and ontology as well as the theoretical framework overarching the research. Finally, I am also aware that my personal lack of experience in this area may contribute to the ultimate data analysis presented in this report.
Word count: 2570 words
References
Bretherton, I. (1997) “Bowlby’s legacy to developmental psychology”, in Wood, C., Littleton, K., & Oates J. (2007) pp. 343-346)
Kretchmar M.D., Worsham N.L., Swenson N. (2005) “Anna’s story: A qualitative analysis of an at-risk mother’s experience in an attachment-based foster care program”, in Wood, C., Littleton, K., & Oates J. (2007) pp. 347-351)
The Open University. (2007). Interviewing and thematic analysis [DVD Programme 4, Sections 4-7, DVD 00225]. Milton Keynes: The Open University)
The Open University. (2007). DSE212 Exploring Psychological Research Methods. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Wood, C., Littleton, K., & Oates J. (2007). Lifespan development. In T. Cooper, & I. Roth (Eds.), DSE212: Challenging Psychological Issues (pp. 3-70). Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Annotated transcript of interview with “Chloe” with thematic analysis coding
[removed]
Appendix 2
Researcher observational notes about reconstructed interview video
[removed]