Analysis of the findings in this study identifies domestic violence constitutes an environment of sustained hostility where women respond with maternal protectiveness to maximise their babies» physical and
psychological safety whether or not they had attained a secure relationship.
In the present study, we explored the
psychological and neural underpinnings of attachment - induced
safety by examining
whether viewing an attachment figure during a threatening experience — receiving physical pain — led to increased activity in a neural region associated with
safety signaling and a corresponding reduction in the threatening or distressing experience of physical pain.