Mediating and moderating processes underlying the association between maternal cognition and infant attachment

• Adult attachment coherence mediated the link between secure base script and insight.
• Mothers with well elaborated secure base scripts were more sensitive.
• Maternal insight provided a buffer for infants of insensitive mothers.

The goal of this longitudinal study was to elucidate aspects of maternal cognition associated with maternal sensitivity and the development of infant attachment. Seventy-seven mothers were administered a number of measures over the course of the infant’s first year, including the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), secure base scripts, and a measure of maternal insight about her infant’s behavior. Maternal sensitivity was assessed using the maternal sensitivity Q-Sort and infant attachment using the Strange Situation Procedure. Associations were found between AAI coherence, secure base scripts, and maternal sensitivity; however, no direct association was found between maternal insight and sensitivity. A mediator-moderator model suggested that: 1) AAI coherence mediated the association between secure base scripts and maternal insight; and 2) maternal insight and sensitivity interacted to predict secure attachment. Findings suggest the need to further investigate the role of cognitive factors implicated in the intergenerational transmission of attachment.