Development of attachment orientations in response to childbirth: A longitudinal dyadic perspective.

To investigate the influence of childbirth on attachment orientations, the authors conducted a three-wave longitudinal research program (during the second trimester of pregnancy, at 6 months postpartum and at 1 year postpartum) and used a multilevel modeling framework on 150 parental couples with parental group (primiparous vs. multiparous parents) as a time-invariant predictor and the partner’s development as a time-varying predictor. The results for the anxiety and the avoidance were different. On the one hand, avoidance remained stable over time, regardless of the predictors. On the other hand, the partner’s development was a predictor of anxiety development: Mothers and fathers tend to change in tandem towards less anxiety. The discussion first considers the question of the development of attachment orientations and the transformative nature of childbirth. Given the parent’s development in tandem, it then stresses the importance for professionals to collaborate with the parental couple for the preparation to parenthood.