Abstract

GOMES, Vanessa Fonseca  and  BOSA, Cleonice Alves. Mental representations of attachment and the perception of parental pratices by young adults. Psicol. Reflex. Crit. [online]. 2010, vol.23, n.1, pp. 11-18. ISSN 0102-7972.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722010000100003.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether mental representations of attachment affect the perception that young adults have while observing interactions of children and their mothers in a laboratory situation. Parental practices were defined as socio-cognitions (goals, plans, expectations and attributions) present during child rearing context. Those socio-cognitions were access through the observations of video-clips of mother-child interactions. Attachment was analyzed through the Attachment Script Assessment. The results showed that only two categories distinguished the two groups: Independence Development and Causal Attribution to Child Behavior, confirming partially the initial expectation of the study.

Keywords : Attachment; Socio-cognition; Parental practices.