Infant-Mother Attachment at Twelve Months and Style of Interaction with a Stranger at the Age of Three Years

Abstract

LOTKENHAUS, PAUL; GROSSMANN, KLAUS E.; and GROSSMANN, KARIN. Infant-Mother Attachment at Twelve Months and Style of Interaction with a Stranger at the Age of Three Years. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 1538-1542. This study explores the relation between the quality of infant-mother attachment at 12 months and the child's style of interaction with an unfamiliar visitor at age 3 years. Quality of infant-mother attachment was assessed in Ainsworth's Strange Situation. At age 3 years, the children were visited in their homes and a competitive game interaction between child and visitor was videotaped. Children classified as securely attached at 12 months interacted faster and more smoothly with the visitor than children who had been avoidantly attached. Microanalyses of the competitive game also revealed different styles of interaction. Failure feedback led to increased effort in the secure-attachment group and to decreased effort in the insecure-attachment group. After failing, securely attached children tended to display sadness more openly than insecurely attached children.