Attachment and self-regulation performance in preadolescence

Abstract

In preadolescence, research has shown links between the quality of children’s attachment relationships and children’s perceived self-regulatory abilities. However, less research has focused on the association between attachment and preadolescents’ self-regulation performance. In a sample of 120 children, aged 9–13, we administered questionnaires to assess trust in maternal support and anxious and avoidant attachment. In addition, mothers reported about their children’s self-regulatory abilities, and children performed the Stop-Signal Task (SST). Consistent with predictions, correlation analyses revealed that a more insecure attachment relationship with mother was not only associated with less self-regulatory abilities as perceived by mother but also with preadolescents’ lower self-regulation performance in the SST. Adding demographic variables as covariates to the analyses did not significantly alter these effects. The current multi-method study contributes to an increasing awareness of the importance of the quality of the mother–child relationship for children’s self-regulation.