The role of social context in the prediction of secure and insecure/avoidant infant—Mother attachment

Abstract

This study investigated the role of social context in the prediction of secure and insecure/avoidant infant-mother attachment. Middle-class families with first-born infants were observed in the home at 12 months in two contexts: mother-baby alone (dyadic) and mother-father-baby together (triadic). At 14 1 2 months the mother and infant were seen in the structured Strange Situation procedure in the laboratory. Mothers of insecure/avoidant infants showed higher rates of negative affect expression toward their babies in the dyadic than triadic context but unvarying, lower rates of playful interaction across both contexts. By contrast, in the secure attachment group, mothers showed significantly higher rates of playful interaction when alone with their babies than when with both baby and spouse. Negative affect was also significantly higher in the dyadic than triadic context in the secure attachment group, although the difference was numerically small. Contrasting maternal behavior across the insecure/avoidant and the secure attachment groups, differences were found in the dyadic context only. In the presence of the father, mothers of secure and insecure/avoidant infants behaved similarly.