[Using attachment measures in the context of providing expert witness through psychiatric assessment in family court proceedings].

Prognostic evaluation of child development in the context of his/her actual family situation plays an important role in family law disputes. However, there is a lack of empirically validated instruments to assess socio-emotional development in very young children. Attachment research provides instruments which could be utilized in clinical practice. At this, the focus should be on assessing the quality of parent-child-relationship and the occurrence of risky parenting behaviour. The article illustrates the use of attachment measures in the context of a family court proceeding according to subsection 1666 German Civil Code. Risk assessment is carried out through direct observation of the quality of interaction between mother and ten months old infant as well as through evaluation of the attachment representations of both parent caregivers. Instruments used are the Strange Situation Test (to assess infant attachment), the CARE-Index (to assess parental sensitivity), the Adult Attachment Interview, and the Adult Attachment Projective (to assess parental attachment representations).