Majority of the sample were chosen from a normal primary school population. There was a subsample from children in either foster care or residential homes to allow for more vulnerable cases.

Sample for the ASI Study

-To create a semi-structured child attachment interview, similar to the adult and adolescent ASI so that it produces the same attachment styles with rates similar to those found in other measures

-To test the new interview’s inter-rater reliability, concurrent, and predictive validity in relation to depression and risk factors in young children

-To test if an insecure attachment style builds upon other risk factors for depression.


Syracuse University

Prior knowledge about Attachment Theory is necessary to understand how child abuse affects a child's ability to bond with their parents and form healthy, trusting relationships later on in life. Insecure attachment styles often form as a result of abuse and neglect from caregivers.

Attachment Theory in Relation to Childhood Trauma


Bifulco, A., Jacobs, C., Oskis, A., Bunn, A., & Spence, R. (2021). The Child Attachment Style Interview (Child-ASI) and depression: Preliminary findings. Educational and Child Psychology, 38(1), 62–74.

The Child Attachment Style Interview (Child-ASI) and depression: Preliminary findings (Bifulco et al.)

There is currently only one interview that is used to decide what a child's attachment style is and that is The Child Attachment Interview. It is essentially a video-recorded interview with 15 questions. The questions are based around discovering how the child perceives their own attachment figures. They aim to figure out how the child views their parent or guardians' "sensitive responsiveness" and "current availability".

The Child Attachment Interview


-Insecure attachment styles can form as adaptive strategies to combat fight, flight, or freeze responses to conflict. These maladaptive responses become fixed into how the child will continue to behave and react to conflict throughout their life.

-These responses can make learning more difficult for the child.

-This type of attachment style is often associated with emotional disorders and psychosocial risk factors.


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