Child Attachment Interview

The Child Attachment Interview (CAI) is a semistructured interview, in which children are invited to describe their relationships with their primary caregivers. The coding system is informed by the Adult Attachment Interview and the Strange Situation Procedure, and produces 4 attachment categories along with a continuous measure of attachment security based on ratings of attachment-related dimensions. Much research has been undertaken which discusses the merits of this assessment.

At Caidreamh the CAI is used to inform the team about a child’s attachment strategy(ies) and is always used in the context of a wider assessment of the child in the context of their caregiving environment and includes considerable time (where possible and appropriate) spent with the child engaging with them and observing them.