Cassibba et al. (2013)

Specification

• Cassibba et al. (2013) Attachment the Italian way (Italy).

Aim(s)

• To examine whether the distributions of child and adult attachment classifications converge with the global distributions, or whether Italy takes a special position.

• To investigate whether most Italian infants and adults are classified as secure.

• To test the prediction that there will be a lower percentage of unresolved attachments in Italian samples because Catholicism may help to promote successful mental resolution of trauma.

• To find out if there is a significant deviation of attachment distributions from the normative pattern for both infants and adults with psychological problems.

• To investigate potential gender differences in attachment as Italy is a country with the lowest rank on an index of women’s status, so gender differentiation is pronounced.

Procedure

A systematic search of references to SSP and AAI studies (from 1990 to 2009) was conducted.

Pertinent studies were selected through PsycINFO, using the keywords ‘‘attachment,’’ ‘‘Italian,’’ and ‘‘Strange Situation Procedure’’ (SSP).

Unpublished papers, such as doctoral dissertations and conference papers were also included to eliminate any bias in the procedure. This is because there is a tendency in research that negative or inconclusive findings often remain hidden or unpublished.

The following criteria were applied in selection:

• Only SSP and AAI studies with Italian samples (for both normative and clinical/at risk samples) were considered.

• Among studies on infant-mother attachment, only those using the gold-standard Strange Situation Procedure, and reporting three-ways classifications A, B, and C (or four-way classifications A, B, C, D, or A/C) were considered.

• For adult attachment, only studies using the original AAI coding system or AICA (Attachment Interview for Child and Adolescence), that reported the three-way Ds, F, and E classifications or four-way classifications including Ds, F, E, and U, were considered.

• When studies included two subsamples, both groups were used, assigning them to their respective groups (i.e., normative sample or clinical/at risk sample).

• Overlapping samples were excluded to make sure every participant was included only once in the analysis.

• Among studies that did not come from peer-reviewed publications, only those where at least one of the authors was a reliable AAI or SSP coder or where inter-rater reliability was high, were considered.

Sample: This selection procedure resulted in 17 studies (23 samples; 627 participants) using the SSP and 50 studies (72 samples; 2,258 participants) using the AAI, all with Italian samples.

For the analyses on the Italian SSP studies, the baseline data was taken from 21 USA samples which were used as the norm against which data was measured.

For the analyses of the AAI studies the data from studies of nonclinical North American mothers was used as a norm distribution.

Intra-cultural differences across the Italian samples with respect to gender (male vs. female), age (adolescents vs. adults), and type of population (nonclinical vs. clinical/at risk), were statistically tested and a distribution by type of sample was produced.

Results

Child attachment

Conclusions

The majority of nonclinical Italian infants were classified as securely attached (53%). Similarly, the majority of nonclinical Italian adults were classified in the secure attachment category (60%). Classifications for infants as well as adults were remarkably similar to those in the normative American group.

Both nonclinical and clinical Italian infants’ distribution showed avoidant attachments are more common in Italy than the American sample. The differences in Italian and American parenting practices may explain this finding. Italian mothers tend to think that child development is a natural process, whereas American mothers assume it is their responsibility to promote children’s development.

The low percentage of unresolved classifications may be a consequence of the high diffusion of Catholic values among the Italian population. Several studies support the idea that religion plays an important role in cognitive and emotional coping processes.

However, Catholicism has not been directly tested in this meta-analysis, and various other socio-cultural differences might have played a role.

There was no over representation of dismissing attachments among males/fathers and gender differences in adult attachments were also not evident. There is a difference in the norm distributions between American and Italian nonclinical mothers. This might be because Italy has skewed and unequal gender roles.

Overall, Cassibba et al. found universal trends and culture-specific features in attachment development, with more avoidance and less unresolved loss.

Past Paper Questions

• Explain one improvement that could be made to the study by Cassibba et al. (2013). (2) June 2019

• Explain two strengths of Cassibba et al. (2013). (4) June 2019

• Assess whether Cassibba et al.’s (2013) research is a scientific study of development. (8) October 2017