The relationships between attachment styles, refective functioning, and emotion regulation in mothers of children diagnosed with ADHD

Abstract

In the present study, we explored the relationships between attachment styles, refective functioning, and dimensions of emotion regulation in mothers of children diagnosed with combined type of ADHD. Participants were 336 mothers, 168 with children diagnosed with ADHD and 168 with children without any diagnosis. Preliminary results showed that mothers of children with ADHD had slightly lower levels of refective functioning and cognitive reappraisal than mothers of children without ADHD did. Moreover, mothers of children with ADHD reported lower levels of secure attachment and a slightly higher levels of dismissing and anxious attachment than mothers of children without ADHD did. Focusing on the group of mothers of children with ADHD, the results showed that anxious and dismissing attachments were negatively associated with refective functioning and that cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between the two attachment styles (anxious and dismissing) and refective functioning. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.