Using the DRS-8 to measure unresolved/disorganized attachment: Associations with states of mind on the adult attachment interview, psychopathology, and offspring social-emotional development

Background: Unresolved/disorganized (U/d) attachment states of mind are associated with poor outcomes across numerous domains of functioning. However, the validity of existing self-report instruments measuring this construct remains questionable.

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to validate the DRS-8, an alternative version of the Disorganized Response Scale (DRS), by assessing its construct validity, internal consistency, and criterion validity with the U/d attachment scales on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI).

Participants and setting: Date were collected from 222 expectant parents (78 % women) at T1 and from 67 of them at 12 months postpartum (T2).

Methods: Participants completed the DRS-8 and questionnaires assessing childhood trauma, romantic attachment, and psychological symptoms during pregnancy (T1). Seventy-four of them participated in the AAI at T1. At T2, parents completed a questionnaire assessing their infants' social-emotional development.

Results: The DRS-8 has two highly correlated dimensions, i.e., lapses in the monitoring of reasoning (four items) and discourse (four items). A confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactor structure of the instrument, showing good fit indices and internal consistency (ω = 0.87). The DRS-8 was significantly correlated with U/d states of mind on the AAI, r(72) = 0.28, p = .016, and demonstrated excellent construct validity. Significant indirect effects of the DRS-8 were found in the associations between childhood trauma and psychological symptoms, and between parental trauma and infant social-emotional development.

Conclusions: The DRS-8 appears to be a promising self-report measure of U/d states of mind showing criterion validity with the AAI.