Trauma and filicide mothers: an attachment study

The present study investigated attachment state of mind distribution at the Adult Attachment Interview in a group of filicidal mothers compared with a group of normative mothers. Specifically, both the traditional and the more recent Hostile/Helpless coding systems were employed. 46 subjects were enrolled in the study, 23 filicidal mothers and 23 normative mothers from a low-risk population. In the current proceeding, attachment states of mind distribution in the two groups of mothers were presented. Results showed that filicide mothers were more at risk for insecure and Unresolved attachment states of mind when the traditional coding system was taken into account; at the same time a higher prevalence of Hostile/Helpless category was identified