The Relationship Questionnaire-Clinical Version (RQ-CV): Introducing a profoundly-distrustful attactment style

Bjarne M. Holmes, Karlen Lyons-Ruth

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    35 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Cost-efficient prenatal assessments are needed that have the potential to identify those at risk for parent/infant relational problems. With this goal in mind, an additional attachment style description was added to the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), an established self-report attachment measure, to create the Relationship Questionnaire: Clinical Version (RQ-CV). The additional description represents a profoundly-distrustful attachment style: "I think it's a mistake to trust other people. Everyone's looking out for themselves, so the sooner you learn not to expect anything from anybody else the better." The RQ-CV was applied to a sample of 44 low-income mothers who had participated in a previous study of the impact of family risk factors on infant development. After first controlling for demographic risk factors and for other insecure adult attachment styles, mother's profound-distrust was associated with three independent assessments of the quality of maternal interactions with the infant assessed 20 years earlier. In particular, profound-distrust was related to more hostile, intrusive, and negative behaviors toward the infant. The results are discussed within the framework of attachment theory. © 2006 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)310-325
    Number of pages16
    JournalInfant Mental Health Journal
    Volume27
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2006

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