Background: Life-history theorie of early programming of human reproductive strategy stipulates that early rearing experience, including that reflected in infant-parent attachment security, regulates psycological, behavioral and reproductive development. Results revealed that individuals who had been insecure infants initiated and completed pubertal development earlier compared with individuals who had been secure infants. Objective: The aim of our study is to assess maternal attachment styles in adult patients with a history of treated ICPP, compared to healthy control group, and to consider how the degree of security-insecurity of this relationship may predict pubertal development. Methods: We selected 15 patients with a history of ICPP (range 14-24 years) and a control group of 15 healthy girls (range 14-26 years). The attachment style and separation anxiety of all these subjects were tested with Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), a semi-projective test for images, in the version modified by Grazia Attili. Results: 53,3% (N=8) of patients treated for ICPP had a secure attachment style, 26.7% (N=4) had an insecure-avoidant attachment and 20% (N=3) insecure-ambivalent attachment. Of the 15 healthy controls, 66.7% (N=10) had a secure attachment, 26.7% (N=4) insecure-avoidant and 6.6% (N=1) insecure-ambivalent. Girls with a history of ICPP exhibit a maternal attachment definitely more insecure compared to girls with normal pubertal development (47% vs 33%). Conclusions: These results showed that girls with a history of ICPP have maternal attachment style generally more insecure than the healthy population. Our data, despite the small size of sample, support a conditional-adaptational view of individual differences in attachment security and raise questions about the role of the maternal care, the quality experience of detachment and the rapprochement act during the first months of life on the biological mechanisms responsible for the precocious pubertal development.
idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty (ICPP) and Maternal Attachment Security
GAUDINO, Rossella;MURRI, Virginia;Morandi, Grazia;MAINES, Evelina;CAVARZERE, Paolo;MONTI, Elena;ANTONIAZZI, Franco
2013-01-01
Abstract
Background: Life-history theorie of early programming of human reproductive strategy stipulates that early rearing experience, including that reflected in infant-parent attachment security, regulates psycological, behavioral and reproductive development. Results revealed that individuals who had been insecure infants initiated and completed pubertal development earlier compared with individuals who had been secure infants. Objective: The aim of our study is to assess maternal attachment styles in adult patients with a history of treated ICPP, compared to healthy control group, and to consider how the degree of security-insecurity of this relationship may predict pubertal development. Methods: We selected 15 patients with a history of ICPP (range 14-24 years) and a control group of 15 healthy girls (range 14-26 years). The attachment style and separation anxiety of all these subjects were tested with Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), a semi-projective test for images, in the version modified by Grazia Attili. Results: 53,3% (N=8) of patients treated for ICPP had a secure attachment style, 26.7% (N=4) had an insecure-avoidant attachment and 20% (N=3) insecure-ambivalent attachment. Of the 15 healthy controls, 66.7% (N=10) had a secure attachment, 26.7% (N=4) insecure-avoidant and 6.6% (N=1) insecure-ambivalent. Girls with a history of ICPP exhibit a maternal attachment definitely more insecure compared to girls with normal pubertal development (47% vs 33%). Conclusions: These results showed that girls with a history of ICPP have maternal attachment style generally more insecure than the healthy population. Our data, despite the small size of sample, support a conditional-adaptational view of individual differences in attachment security and raise questions about the role of the maternal care, the quality experience of detachment and the rapprochement act during the first months of life on the biological mechanisms responsible for the precocious pubertal development.
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