ABSTRACT
A number of studies have uncovered intergenerational transmission of attachment style from parents to children. One implication of attachment theory for children's memory of stressful events is that internal working models will influence children's interpretations of potentially stressful experiences and thus children's level of stress. Based on studies of stress and children's memory, there are at least two possibilities concerning the relations among attachment style, stress, memory for a traumatic event that evokes attachment issues. One possibility is that the degree of stress experienced may influence the accuracy of a child's memory directly. A second possibility is that attachment is related to memory for a stressful event independently of the level of stress experienced. Stressful medical procedures may activate internal working models relevant to attachment issues. Stressful medical procedures may involve parents comforting or scolding the child, holding children down, or abandoning the child by leaving the room, all of which may raise attachment issues.
