ABSTRACT
In this chapter we attempt to convey some sense of the state of contemporary attachment research, with brief appraisals of three lively areas of inquiry. First, we discuss research on mentalisation, which in part grew out of research with the Adult Attachment Interview discussed in Chapter 5. We then survey research on attachment and brain development and function, highlighting discrepancies between popular claims about this relationship and the extent of available evidence. Finally, we report on developments in attachment-based interventions, with particular focus on the two models with the strongest current evidence-base: Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP) and Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch-up (ABC). This whistle-stop tour is by no means intended to be comprehensive but will hopefully offer the reader an impression of some areas of current research that have grown out of the work reported in the previous chapters.
