Insecure attachment representations and child personal narrative structure: implications for delayed discourse in preschool-age children

Abstract

The internal working model of attachment has been assessed through attachment interviews and story-stems that exhibit differentiated patterns in adult and child narratives. This study examined variation in length and structure of children’s independent personal narratives by attachment representations, discriminating between insecure-avoidant and insecure-ambivalent, and we tested attachment insecurity as a predictor of developmental delay in narrative discourse. Sixty-five preschool-age children completed the Attachment Story Completion Task-Revised and recalled three recent past events. Secure children told longer personal narratives than both avoidant and ambivalent children, and secure children’s narrative structure was more coherent than that of ambivalent children but not avoidant children. Likewise, the two insecure categories differentially predicted delayed discourse. Ambivalent children were 10 times more likely to exhibit delayed discourse than secure children, whereas avoidant children were not at significantly greater risk. Differential developmental outcomes of avoidant and ambivalent children are discussed and conclusions are drawn about the role of child attachment in storing, accessing and communicating memories about everyday lived experiences.