Verbal - prosodic association when narrating early caregiving experiences during the adult attachment interview: differences between secure and dismissing individuals

Previous studies reported an inconsistency between verbal extracts and emotional physiological activation in dismissing individuals when narrating their early caregiving experience at the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). This study aimed to explore this discrepancy by analyzing the degree of concordance between verbal content and prosodic characteristics, index of physiological activation, when dismissing and secure individuals discuss negative childhood memories during the AAI. Results showed that secure participants presented a high coherence between verbal content and emotional activation, as expressed by prosody, revealing a reprocess of negative experiences that is the core feature of the development of secure working models. In contrast, dismissing participants’ prosodic characteristics were discrepant with the verbal content. These individuals downplayed the nature and impact of negative experiences and emotions, but used a prosody that revealed a high emotional arousal. The difference between the two groups was more evident for participants who had experienced more rejecting parents.