DIFFERENTIATION OF SELF AND ATTACHMENT AMONG ADULT DAUGHTERS Bonnie Davis, DNS,RN University of Mississippi School of Nursing

Issues Ment Health Nurs 1992.13:321-332. Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Kainan University on 04/02/15. For personal use only.

Linda Corson Jones, PhD, RN Louisiana State University Medical Center School of Nursing

lhe relation among the variables differentiation of seK attachment to mother, and two indicators of mental health were studied in 83 nonclinical adult daughters from a Southern community. An a priori causal model was proposed and tested. Bowen s (1976)theory of differentiation of self and Bowlbys (1969)attachment theory provided the conceptual framework. An operational Daughter Model was tested using the statistical program LISREL. Compared to mothers, daughters scored significantly lower on differentiation of se& Daughter’s attachment to mother and daughter 3 level of self-differentiation were not causally related, supporting the view that differentiation of self and attachment are separate variables in personality development. The daughters’ levels of differentiation of self were positively related to positive energy, thus supporting Bowen’s theory. These Jindings afinn the value of attachment behaviors and diflerentiation of self in adulthood, challenge therapists ’ bias against attachment behaviors of women, and provide a focus for mental health promotion among women.

Theorists assert that the mother-daughter relationship is a powerful force in the development of women, affecting their mental health and self-efficacy (Bassoff, 1988; Chodorow, 1978; Lebe, 1982). Issues of differentiation of self and attachment are cardinal to the mental health of women (Bassoff, 1988; Chodorow, 1978; Lerner, 1982). Little is known Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 13:321-331, 1992 Copyright 0 1992 by Hemisphere Publishing Corporation

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about the mother-daughter relationship during the long span when the daughter is a mature adult and her mother is neither frail nor dependent (Baruch & Barnett, 1983). Theoretical descriptions of the mother-adult daughter relationship and its effect on women’s mental health requires more empirical support. This research, a part of a study of mother-daughter relationships, focuses on adult daughter psychological outcomes. The purpose of this research was to examine in adult daughters the variables differentiation of self, attachment, and two indicators of mental health (i.e., dysphoria and positive energy). Based on a review of the literature, an a priori causal model was proposed and tested. Bowen’s (1976) theory of differentiation of self and Bowlby’s (1969) theory of attachment provided the conceptual framework for the study. Differentiation of self, the cornerstone of Bowen’s work, may be viewed as an index of self-functioning (Haber, 1990). The level of differentiation of self an individual attains is influenced by the level of differentiation among members in the family of origin (Bowen, 1976). The correlation between differentiation of self and positive psychological outcomes has been demonstrated by researchers from diverse theoretical perspectives (Lewis, 1958; Minuchin et al., 1975; Minuchin, Rosman, & Baker, 1978; Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp, 1962). Attachment is the process by which people form close caring bonds with particular others through ongoing interaction. Attachment is adaptive for the survival of the species, beginning in infancy and continuing throughout the life cycle (Bowlby, 1969). Attachment theory has been investigated extensively with infants and children (Adam, 1982; Ainsworth, 1962, 1972; Brown, Bhrolchain, & Harris, 1975; Henderson, 1982) but rarely with adults. Early mutual mother-daughter attachment ensures a strong bond that fosters in the daughter the propensity for human attachment and nurturance (Bowlby, 1969; Chodorow, 1978; Miller, 1986). Strong attachments between mother and daughter generally make differentiation between the dyad conflictual (Bassoff, 1987; Boyd, 1987; Chodorow, 1978; Lebe, 1986). Most theories of psychological development laud self-differentiation and ignore or devalue human attachment, which is widely viewed as feminine behavior (Hare-Mustin, 1987; Kjervik, 1986; Miller, 1986). Issues of caring, intimacy, emotional closeness, and interpersonal reciprocity are often acknowledged only when their absence is manifested by intergenerational conflict, delinquency, broken homes, or family violence (Sampson, 1977). Arguing the necessity of both differentiation of self and interpersonal attachment in the development of personality, Franz and White (1985) proposed a model in which attachment and

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differentiation of self are independent, essential variables in the development of emotional maturity for men and women. Researchers identified situational and personal variables that affect mother-daughter attachment and differentiation of self that include ages of the mothers and daughters (Bromberg, 1983; Lebe, 1986; Weishaus, 1978), socioeconomic status (Colder & Geyer, 1982), marital status of mother and daughter (Fischer, 1986; Walker & Thompson, 1983), frequency of contact (Adams, 1968; Thompson & Walker, 1984), and whether the daughter has children (Baruch & Barnett, 1983; Fischer, 1981, 1986).

METHOD A convenience sample of 83 adult daughters and their mothers from a Southern community was used. Subjects were accessed in the workplace, a community college, various women’s organizations, a church, a blood drive, and a pediatrician’s office. To be eligible for the study, the daughter was at least 25 years old; functioning independently with activities of daily living; and able to read, comprehend, and respond to written instruments. The mother must have been the daughter’s primary caregiver through adolescence. An ex-post facto, correlational design was used. The researcher proposed an a priori causal recursive model of adult daughters’ attachment to mother, differentiation of self, and mental state (see Figure 1). Proposed exogenous variables extracted from the literature review included the daughter’s age, marital status, socioeconomic status, number of children, and frequency of contact with her mother. Endogenous variables included daughter’s attachment to her mother, differentiation of self, positive energy, and dysphoria. Whereas Franz and White (1985) argued that attachment and differentiation were distinct developmental pathways, many theorists stressed the daughter’s need to separate from the mother in order to become differentiated (Bassoff, 1987; Boyd, 1987; Chodorow, 1978; Lebe, 1986; Lerner, 1982). The proposed Daughter Model reflects the latter view. Thirteen hypotheses were formulated, each of which predicted a positive sign and direction between an endogenous and exogenous variable and corresponded to a path on the Daughter Model. A demographic data sheet and three instruments were used: Haber’s (1990) Level of Differentiation of Self Scale (LDSS), Walker and Thompson’s (1983) Attachment and Intimacy Scale (A&I), and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist-Revised (MAACL-R). Based on Bowen’s (1976) theory of differentiation, the LDSS is a 24item self-report, 4-point Likert scale developed to assess the intellectual

Issues Ment Health Nurs 1992.13:321-332. Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Kainan University on 04/02/15. For personal use only.

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Fig. 1. Daughter’s Attachment to Mother and Self-DifferentiationModel. (Figure appears courtesy of Bonnie Davis, 1990, Mothers adult b g h t e r s : Self dvfemnlidon, attuchment and mental state, unpublished doctoral

dissertation, Louisiana State University Medical Center.) and emotional functioning of individuals within a family system. The questionnaire has been assessed for construct validity by experts and by factor analytic studies (Haber, 1990). Internal validity was estimated by Chronbach’s alpha as .86 for this study. The A&I was developed to measure dimensions of close family relationships. The attachment and intimacy scales are two subscales, totaling 24 items, from Wallrer and Thompson’s (1983) 68-item Likert scale. The 7-point scale was revised to a 4-point scale. Reliabilities for the intimacy subscale range from .95 to .97 (Walker & Thompson, 1983) and from .88 to .91 for the attachment subscale (Thompson & Walker, 1984). Estimates for internal consistency for the total scale were .94 for this study. The MAACL-R is a self-report instrument consisting of 132 descriptive adjectives designed to measure clinically relevant, trait psychological aspects of emotion (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1985). Five dimensions of affect were collapsed into two factors: dysphoria (DYS) and positive energy (PASS). Internal consistency estimates were DYS, .91-.96 and PASS, -67-.93. Data were collected over a 3-month period. A total of 109 women verbally agreed to participate and assist in enlisting their mother or

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daughter to participate. Eighty-three eligible dyads (77 %) completed questionnaires before the data collection deadline. Black women and women who acknowledged a strained mother-daughter relationship frequently declined to participate. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the subjects. Paired, twotailed t-tests were performed to ascertain dyadic differences in the endogenous variables: attachment, differentiation of self, positive energy, and dysphoria. The statistical program LISREL was used to test the fit between the proposed Daughter Model and the data.

RESULTS Daughters’ ages ranged from 25 to 48, with a mean age of 33. Ninety-four percent of daughters were Caucasian and 6% were Black. Years of education ranged from 10 to 21, with a mean of 14.8. Ninetyfive percent had completed high school. As measured by Hollingshead’s 7-point Social Class Index (Hollingshead & Redlich, 1958) and family income, subjects were primarily from the middle class. Fourteen percent had never married, 66% were married, 17% were divorced or separated, and 2% were widowed. Six percent of the mother-daughter dyads shared a home. Approximately 5 1 % of the dyads lived within 20 miles of each other. Fourteen percent of the dyads lived 360 miles or more apart. Frequency of face-to-face contact was daily for 30.1%, 2-3 times weekly for 27.7% dyads, and weekly for 25.3 % . Thus, 85.5 % of dyads had weekly or more frequent contact. Fifty-nine percent of daughters had one or two children; 15.7% had three of four children; and 25.3 % had no children. Daughters scored within normal ranges in the measurement of dysphoria and positive energy. Paired t-test scores revealed few differences between mother-daughter dyads. Mothers and daughters were similar in their level of attachment to each other and in mental health outcomes with one notable exception. Daughters showed significantly less differentiation of self than mothers (t = 3.01, p = .003). Scores on the A&I scale indicated daughters were strongly attached to their mothers, although daughters’ A&I scores were lower than mothers’. With possible attachment scores ranging from 26 to 104, the mean score for daughters was 83.97. The hypotheses, which addressed causal relationships among the variables, were tested using LISREL. LISREL‘s program provided path coefficients and associated t-values for each path in the proposed model. After testing by LISREL, a revised Daughter Model was proposed. Figure 2 illustrates the revised model with gamma and beta coefficients and their associated t-values in parentheses.

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Differentiation of self and attachment among adult daughters.

The relation among the variables differentiation of self, attachment to mother, and two indicators of mental health were studied in 83 nonclinical adu...
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