UCL  IRIS
Institutional Research Information Service
UCL Logo
Please report any queries concerning the funding data grouped in the sections named "Externally Awarded" or "Internally Disbursed" (shown on the profile page) to your Research Finance Administrator. Your can find your Research Finance Administrator at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/finance/research/rs-contacts.php by entering your department
Please report any queries concerning the student data shown on the profile page to:

Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk

Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
Publication Detail
Narrowing the Transmission Gap: A Synthesis of Three Decades of Research on Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment
  • Publication Type:
    Journal article
  • Publication Sub Type:
    Article
  • Authors:
    Verhage , Schuengel C, Madigan S, Fearon R, Oosterman M, Cassibba R, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, van IJzendoorn MH
  • Publisher:
    American Psychological Association
  • Publication date:
    01/01/2016
  • Pagination:
    337, 366
  • Journal:
    Psychological Bulletin
  • Volume:
    142
  • Issue:
    4
  • Print ISSN:
    1939-1455
Abstract
wenty years ago, meta-analytic results (k = 19) confirmed the association between caregiver attachment representations and child–caregiver attachment (Van IJzendoorn, 1995). A test of caregiver sensitivity as the mechanism behind this intergenerational transmission showed an intriguing “transmission gap.” Since then, the intergenerational transmission of attachment and the transmission gap have been studied extensively, and now extend to diverse populations from all over the globe. Two decades later, the current review revisited the effect sizes of intergenerational transmission, the heterogeneity of the transmission effects, and the size of the transmission gap. Analyses were carried out with a total of 95 samples (total N = 4,819). All analyses confirmed intergenerational transmission of attachment, with larger effect sizes for secure-autonomous transmission (r = .31) than for unresolved transmission (r = .21), albeit with significantly smaller effect sizes than 2 decades earlier (r = .47 and r = .31, respectively). Effect sizes were moderated by risk status of the sample, biological relatedness of child–caregiver dyads, and age of the children. Multivariate moderator analyses showed that unpublished and more recent studies had smaller effect sizes than published and older studies. Path analyses showed that the transmission could not be fully explained by caregiver sensitivity, with more recent studies narrowing but not bridging the “transmission gap.” Implications for attachment theory as well as future directions for research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Publication data is maintained in RPS. Visit https://rps.ucl.ac.uk
 More search options
UCL Researchers
Author
Clinical, Edu & Hlth Psychology
Author
Clinical, Edu & Hlth Psychology
University College London - Gower Street - London - WC1E 6BT Tel:+44 (0)20 7679 2000

© UCL 1999–2011

Search by