Resolved or unresolved, that is the question: a case-study approach to discourse about abuse, trauma and maltreatment among mothers with mild intellectual disabilty
Number of Authors: 42025 (English)In: Attachment & Human Development, ISSN 1461-6734, E-ISSN 1469-2988, Vol. 27, no 2, p. 229-254Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Mary Main played a key role for this study, in which we used an idiographic approach to examine discourse about abuse, trauma, and maltreatment (ATM) among eight mothers with a mild intellectual disability (ID), whose children had been assigned a secure (the “B-group”) or disorganized (the “D-group”) attachment classification. Thematic analysis yielded six ATM discourse themes: openness; coherence; presence of trauma in consciousness; support; agency in response to crisis; and self-concept and caregiving self-efficacy. Mothers in the B-group provided coherent narratives, were open with the interviewer, had memories of seeking and receiving support, and reflected freely and autonomously on their experiences. Contrastingly, the mothers in the D-group expressed a guarded, closed-off stance towards ATM, difficulties seeking support, helplessness in response to crisis, and poor self-concept and -efficacy. Their adverse experiences were nonetheless highly present in consciousness, albeit in unintegrated forms. Our findings suggest that the D-group mothers may be unresolved with respect to loss/abuse
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. Vol. 27, no 2, p. 229-254
Keywords [en]
abuse, trauma and maltreatment, adult attachment interview, Attachment, caregiving, intellectual disability
National Category
Psychology (Excluding Applied Psychology)
Research subject
Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-239100DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2024.2401913ISI: 001313450600001PubMedID: 39282692Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105004033335OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-239100DiVA, id: diva2:1935538
Note
This research was supported by a grant [2005-0328] awarded to Pehr Granqvist from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, and by grants from the Swedish Research Council [2017-03315] and the Swedish research Council for Health, Working Life, and Welfare [2017-01182] awarded to Pehr Granqvist and Tommie Forslund.
2025-02-072025-02-072025-05-23Bibliographically approved