Abstract

The research carried out with 35 pre-teens adopted at early and late ages demonstrated that the distribution of attachment patterns - for the most secure - assessed using the Attachment Interview for Latency (IAL), is comparable with that of pre-teens in the general population. Consequently, it is possible to hypothesize that, in the most of adopted persons, the relationship with the adoptive parents supported the construction of secure patterns of attachment through the elaboration of early unfavourable experiences. Moreover the qualitative analysis of the interviews shows that secure pre-teens are able to integrate their pre- and post-adoption attachment relationships in a different way to insecure pre-teens who tend rather to split them.