AAI transcripts are scored on a series of continuous rating scales, which aim to capture
both the interviewee’s actual childhood experiences of attachment relationships and his
current state of mind with regard to attachment, and prototypical profiles on these
continuous scores are used to assign an overall category. It is possible that the autistic
adults’ responses will not match these typical patterns: their differences in cognitive and
verbal style might make them less able to talk coherently, relevantly and believably, or
they may be more likely to be dismissive of discussing attachment relationships if they are
aware of their own difficulties.
• How are AAI responses of adults with autism related to their autistic
symptomatology, IQ and theory of mind?
To be classified as secure on the AAI requires the ability to describe events in close
relationships and to some extent to report internal states in self and other (e.g. ‘did you
ever feel rejected as a child?’, ‘why do you think your parents behaved in the way they
did?’). The ability of adults with autism to provide classifiable, secure responses to the
AAI may therefore be linked with their success in more traditional theory of mind tasks. It
is also predicted that security of attachment as assessed by the AAI will be associated with
IQ and degree of autistic symptomatology, in line with the theory of mind and child
attachment studies reviewed above.
Method
Participants
Twenty participants were recruited through contact with support groups, and from
participation in other research. Participation criteria were a diagnosis on the autism
spectrum (including autism, pervasive developmental disorder or Asperger’s syndrome),
IQ above 70, fluent spoken English, and age above 18 years. Full demographics are given
in the Results section.