Attachment and Emotion in Autobiographical Memory Development

Abstract

The relation of attachment status to autobiographical memory was assessed in 3.5- to 4.5-year-olds. Of specific interest was the relation between attachment status and the emotional content of parent–child memory conversations. Forty-six mother–child dyads discussed four events designed to elicit positive and negative emotional themes. Both attachment status and gender moderated the emotional content of this memory talk. Mother–daughter dyads with insecurely attached girls engaged in relatively more negative memory talk than mother–daughter dyads with securely attached girls. However, the dyads of secure girls elaborated more often on both positive and negative emotional themes than did the dyads of insecure girls who primarily elaborated on positive themes. The relations between attachment status and emotion talk for mother–son dyads were inconsistent. Findings were discussed in terms of the role of attachment in the social construction of autobiographical memories.