Parents' attachment histories and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors: exploring family systems models of linkage.

Abstract

Twenty-seven mothers and 27 fathers were given the Adult Attachment Interview (M. Main & R. Goldwyn, in press) when their children were 3.5 years old. Continuous ratings of narrative coherence, probable experience quality (parents perceived as loving), and state of mind (current anger at parents) were entered as latent variables in partial least squares structural equation models that included observational measures of marital quality and parenting style. Models that include fathers' attachment histories predicted more variance in kindergarten teachers' descriptions of children's externalizing behavior, whereas models that include mothers' attachment histories predicted more variance in children's internalizing behavior. Marital data added predictive power to the equations. Discussion is focused on the importance of integrating attachment and family systems approaches, and of parents' gender and marital quality, in understanding specific links between parents' attachment histories and their young children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors.