Abstract A person's state of mind with respect to attachment, measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), represents how the individual perceives, accesses, and processes attachment‐related content. One's state of mind with respect to attachment is thought to guide behavior in relationships, including caregiving relationships, and thus may have important implications for parents’ engagement in parenting interventions. Relational savoring (RS) is a brief attachment‐based intervention that has been shown to increase mothers’ parenting sensitivity, feelings of closeness to their child, and positive emotion. However, it remains unknown how mothers with different attachment profiles respond to this intervention. In the current illustrative multiple case study, we examine how three mothers ( M age = 31.0 years, SD age = 1.0) of young children in the United States classified with different states of mind with respect to attachment respond to RS. First, we provide samples of mothers’ AAI discourse to illustrate their states of mind with respect to attachment. Next, we analyze their responses during RS sessions using a qualitative approach. Results demonstrate differences in mothers’ attachment‐related discourse, capacity for reflection, and change processes during the intervention that varied by attachment profile. We discuss the implications of these findings for RS and other parenting interventions.
Marvin et al. (Fri,) studied this question.