Attachment Q-Set Research Articles

Associations between father involvement and father-child attachment security: Variations based on timing and type of involvement.

This study examined associations between father involvement and father-child attachment security, and whether those associations differed as a function of timing (workday and nonworkday) and/or type (accessibility, caregiving, and play) of involvement. Eighty father-child dyads participated when children were approximately 3 years old. Fathers completed a time diary interview assessing the various forms of involvement, and attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q-Set (Waters, 1995) following 90 min of father-child observation in the home. On nonworkdays, father involvement in play predicted greater attachment security and involvement in caregiving was marginally associated with greater attachment security. On workdays, father involvement in caregiving was related to greater attachment security, whereas father involvement in play was related to less attachment security. Results were independent of observed paternal sensitivity and relevant demographic covariates. Findings highlight the differential impact of father involvement for the father-child attachment relationship depending on when involvement occurs and what types of activities fathers engage in. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Relational antecedents and social implications of the emotion of empathy: Evidence from three studies.

Despite emotion researchers' strong interest in empathy and its implications for prosocial functioning, surprisingly few studies have examined parent-child attachment as a context for early origins of empathy in young children. Consequently, empirical evidence on links among children's attachment, empathy, and prosociality is thin and inconsistent. We examined such links in 2 longitudinal studies of community families (Family Study, N = 101 mothers, fathers, and children, 14 to 80 months; Parent-Child Study, mothers and children, N = 108, 15 to 45 months) and a study of low-income, diverse mothers and toddlers (Play Study, N = 186, 30 months). Children's security was assessed in Strange Situation in infancy and rated by observers and mothers using Attachment Q-Set at toddler age. Children's empathy was observed in scripted probes that involved parental simulated distress. Children's prosociality was rated by parents (Family Study, Play Study). Security with mothers related to higher empathy. For mother- and father-child dyads, security moderated the path from empathy to prosociality. For insecure children, but not secure ones, variations in empathy related to prosociality. Insecure and unempathic children were particularly low in prosociality. (PsycINFO Database Record

Children's Recall of Storybook Events: Links With Attachment and Gender

The quality of the attachment bond between a child and a caregiver can have lasting effects on how the child perceives, interprets, and recalls events through the filtering of internal working models. Previous research has shown that secure children tend to recall emotional information better than insecure children. The current study examined the association between attachment and children's recall with a sample of 81 children between the ages of 54 and 63 months. Mothers completed the Attachment Q-Set, and the researcher read a storybook with an emotional theme to the children. Children's memory for the storybook details was assessed. Results indicated that, even after controlling for age, more-secure children were better able to recall more details over all. Girls also performed slightly better than boys, although this finding was marginally significant. Overall, the current findings suggest that less-secure children may have defensive processes that prevent them from remembering details from an emotion-laden storybook, which has developmental and educational implications.

Maternal mentalization affects mothers’ – but not children’s – weight via emotional eating

ABSTRACTPrevious research on childhood obesity has shown that maternal obesity is an important risk factor for this malady. Because biological and environmental factors are able to explain the transgenerational transmission of obesity only in part, psychological risk factors (e.g., emotional eating) have become more important in recent research. As maternal mentalization – which lays the foundation for the child’s ability to regulate his/her emotions – has not yet been investigated, we examined the effects of mentalization on maternal and childhood obesity. By investigating groups of obese (n = 30) and normal-weight (n = 30) mothers and their children aged 18 to 55 months, we found, contrary to our expectations, that obese mothers’ mentalization (Reflective Functioning Scale) was similar to that of mothers with normal weight and that mentalization showed no direct effect on the child’s weight. However, we found hints of an indirect influence of mentalization via emotional eating on mothers’ but not on children’s weight and via mother–child attachment (Attachment Q-Set) on children’s weight. Possible reasons for these inconclusive effects are discussed.

어린이집 이용 영유아의 어머니와 교사에 대한 애착과 교사의 반응성과의 관계

본 연구의 목적은 어린이집을 이용하는 영유아의 어머니 및 교사에 대한 애착과 교사의 반응성과의 관계를 검증하는 것이다. 본 연구는 D시 어린이집에 재원중인 12개월에서 36개월 사이의 영유아 64명과 어머니, 그리고 영유아를 담당하는 교사들이다. 연구도구로 애착 Q-set검사와 교사의 반응성도구를 사용하였으며, 수집된 자료는 SPSS 18.0 프로그램을 이용하여 조사도구의 신뢰도를 위해 Cronbach's <TEX>${\alpha}$</TEX>와 연구문제를 위해 Pearson 적률상관계수를 구하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 첫째, 교사의 일관성, 온정성, 민감성은 영유아의 교사에 대한 안정된 애착과 유의미한 상관이 있었다. 둘째, 교사의 온정적인 태도와 민감한 반응은 영유아의 어머니에 대한 안정된 애착과 유의미한 상관이 있었다. 본 연구의 결과는 영유아를 담당하는 보육교사의 민감하고 반응적인 특성이 영유아의 교사에 대한 애착뿐 아니라 어머니에 대한 애착 형성에도 매우 중요한 변인임을 말해주었다. 본 연구의 결과는 영유아를 담당하는 교사가 애정적인 신체접촉과 함께 긍정적인 정서로 일관되고 민감하게 영유아에게 상호작용하는 반응성이 얼마나 중요한지 검증함과 동시에, 이러한 교사의 특성이 영아-교사간의 관계에 대한 영향을 넘어 영아-부모간의 관계에도 영향을 미칠 수 있는 중요한 요인이 된다는 것을 밝혀주었다. The subjects of this study were 64 young children aged 12 to 36 months old and their mothers and teachers. The attachment Q-set and an instrument for teachers' responsivity were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0, and Cronbach's and Pearson's r were calculated. The results were as follows. Teachers' consistency, warmth, and sensitivity were significantly correlated with the children's attachment to teachers. In addition, teachers' warm and sensitive responses were related to the children's attachment to mothers. Teachers' warm, sensitive, and responsive characteristics are emphasized for quality interactions between young children and teachers, since they contribute to the children's secure attachment to their mothers as well as teachers.

Attachment in middle childhood: predictors, correlates, and implications for adaptation

ABSTRACTMiddle childhood is a relative lacuna in behavioral attachment research. We examined antecedents, correlates, and implications of parent–child attachment at age 10 in a longitudinal study of community families from a Midwestern US state (N = 102, mothers, fathers, and children). Dimensions of security, avoidance, ambivalence, and disorganization of children’s attachment to each parent were observed in lengthy naturalistic interactions and assessed using Iowa Attachment Behavioral Coding (IABC). IABC scores were meaningfully associated with history of parental responsiveness (7–80 months) and with earlier and concurrent attachment security, assessed with other established instruments (parent- and observer-rated Attachment Q-Set at 25 months, children’s reports at age 8 and 10). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the overall history of responsive care was meaningfully associated with Security, Avoidance, and Disorganization at age 10, in both mother–child and father–child relationships, and that most recent care uniquely predicted Security. IABC scores were also meaningfully related to a broad range of measures of child adaptation at ages 10–12. Cumulative history of children’s security from infancy to middle childhood, integrating measures across relationships and methodologies, also predicted child adaptation at ages 10–12.

Effortful control mediates relations between children's attachment security and their regard for rules of conduct.

Although attachment security has been associated with children's rule-compatible conduct, the mechanism through which attachment influences early regard for rules is not well established. We hypothesized that effortful control would mediate the link between security and indicators of children's emerging regard for rules (discomfort following rule violations, internalization of parents' and experimenter's rules, few externalizing behaviors). In a longitudinal study, the Attachment Q-Set was completed by parents, effortful control was observed, and Regard for Rules was observed and rated by parents. The proposed model fit the data well: Children's security to mothers predicted their effortful control, which in turn had a direct link to a greater Regard for Rules. Children's security with fathers did not predict effortful control. The mother-child relationship appears particularly important for positive developmental cascades of self-regulation and socialization.

Insatiable insecurity: maternal obesity as a risk factor for mother–child attachment and child weight

Childhood obesity has become a rising health problem, and because parental obesity is a basic risk factor for childhood obesity, biological factors have been especially considered in the complex etiology. Aspects of the family interaction, e.g., mother–child attachment, have not been the main focus. Our study tried to fill this gap by investigating whether there is a difference between children of obese and normal weight mothers in terms of mother–child attachment, and whether mother–child attachment predicts child’s weight, in a sample of 31 obese and 31 normal weight mothers with children aged 19 to 58 months. Mother–child attachment was measured with the Attachment Q-Set. We found that (1) children of obese mothers showed a lower quality of mother–child attachment than children of normal weight mothers, which indicates that they are less likely to use their mothers as a secure base; (2) the attachment quality predicted child`s BMI percentile; and (3) the mother–child attachment adds incremental validity to the prediction of child’s BMI beyond biological parameters (child’s BMI birth percentile, BMI of the parents) and mother’s relationship status. Implications of our findings are discussed.

A Preliminary Study to the Validity of ‘Attachment Q-set’ as a Measuring Tool for 5 Years’ Attachment

The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate the validity of the ‘Attachment Q-set’ as a measuring tool for 5 years attachment stability. The subjects comprised 18 boys and 15 girls aged 5 in a daycare center in G city, in Kyongnam. The instruments used in this study were ‘Attachment Q-set’, ASCT, and IPPA-R. Based on experts’ rating, the Q-set was modified, reducing it from 90 to 75 items, and used a Likert 5-points scale. ASCT scores as well as types were compared with the scores of the Q-set and IPPA-R. The attachment type was classified into either secure or insecure. The IPPA-R score of the secure infants was significantly higher than the insecure, and correlated with the ASCT score. However, there was no significant correlation between the Q-set score with the attachment types or the ASCT scores. The Q-set scores were partially correlated with the IPPA-R. This results were discussed in terms of the Q-set’s invalidity for rating attachment levels of 5 years as well as the limitations imposed by the subjects' restrictive numbers. 색인어: 타당도, ì• ì°© Q-set, ì• ì°©ì´ì•¼ê¸° ì™„ì„±ê³¼ì œ, ë¶€ëª¨ë˜ëž˜ì• ì°©ì²™ë„ Keywords: validity, Attachment Q-set, ASCT, IPPA-R

어머니와 교사에 대한 복합애착 유형과 성별에 따른 만 5세 유아의 또래 유능성의 차이

Abstract This study investigated peer competence according to children's types of multiple attachment for mothers and teachers. The subjects of this study were 129 five-year old children and their 7 teachers who attend 3 kindergarten in Busan. They completed Attachment Story Completion Task(ASCT), Attachment Q-set and Peer Competence Measure. Collected data were analyzed using t-test and two-way ANOVA. The major results of this study were as follows: First, for mother, children who were securely attached showed higher peer competence than children who were insecurely attached. Girls showed higher peer competence than boys. No significant differences were found between securely attached and insecurely attached children with teachers. Girls showed higher peer competence than boys. Second, children who were attached both mother and teacher or either mother or teacher showed higher competence than children who were insecurely attached with both mother and teacher. Key words : Young children, Attachment, Multiple attachment, Peer competenceCorresponding author : 051-629-5495, hylee@pknu.ac.kr

Interparental conflict, children's security with parents, and long-term risk of internalizing problems: A longitudinal study from ages 2 to 10.

Although the negative impact of marital conflict on children has been amply documented, few studies have examined the process of risk in a long-term, longitudinal design. We examined parent-child attachment security as a mechanism that may account for the impact of interparental conflict on children's long-term risk of internalizing problems. Sixty-two community mothers, fathers, and children were followed from ages 2 to 10. Parents reported on their conflicts when their children were 2. Trained observers produced parent-child attachment security scores (Attachment Q-Set, Waters, 1987), based on lengthy naturalistic observations of the child with each parent. Parents rated children's internalizing problems at age 10. A conditional process model and bootstrap approach were implemented to examine conditional indirect effects of conflict on child internalizing problems through attachment security for girls versus boys. Maladaptive marital conflict (destructive strategies, severity of arguments) increased internalizing problems 8 years later due to the undermined security for girls, whereas negative emotional aftermath of conflict (unresolved, lingering tension) increased internalizing problems for both boys and girls. The emotional aftermath of conflict is often overlooked, yet it appears to be a key dimension influencing emotional security in the family system, with significant consequences for children's development.

The Influence of Parent-child Toys and Time of Playing Together on Attachment

As grandparent rearing is growing year by year in Taiwan's dual-earner family, it raises a critical issue (how parents can efficiently accompany with their children. The study investigates in the influences of parent-child toys and time of playing together on attachment. The study is divided into two parts. (1) Literature Review. The relationship between playing together as a family and theory of attachment. (2) Questionnaire Analysis. The questionnaire focuses on the influences of different types of parent-child toys and the time of playing together for age 2-6 kids on attachment. Choosing 20 questions from attachment Q-set, preschool education specialists design this questionnaire. Questionnaires are distributed in December 2014, and 30 of them are collected. Results are as follows. (1) Instead of whole day as we imaging, the average time of playing together is 15minutes each time, resulting in high level of attachment. (2) Symbolic play materials. Children play stuffed toys, dolls, and toys alone make them feel secured even if not playing together with parents. (3) Fluid-construction play materials. Playing dough or drawing pictures with children for 15-45minutes not only enhances parent-child attachment but also makes children trust people easily and fearless of many things. (4) Structured-construction play material. Play building block, Lego, puzzle with children helps and encourages them to explore learning. In the security attachment, it will inspire children to develop positive attitudes. (5) Sensori-motor play materials. Accompanying with children for playing sliding slide and climbing-frame for 1 hour generates high level of attachment, making them not fear of unfamiliar environment. (6) Sign play-numbers and letters. Playing educational toys together for 60 minutes trains children to think and judge, allowing them to quickly adapt to changeable environment.

The relation of infant attachment to attachment and cognitive and behavioural outcomes in early childhood

BackgroundIn China, research on the relation of mother–infant attachment to children's development is scarce. AimsThis study sought to investigate the relation of mother–infant attachment to attachment, cognitive and behavioural development in young children. Study designThis study used a longitudinal study design. SubjectsThe subjects included healthy infants (n=160) aged 12 to 18months. Outcome measuresAinsworth's “Strange Situation Procedure” was used to evaluate mother–infant attachment types. The attachment Q-set (AQS) was used to evaluate the attachment between young children and their mothers. The Bayley scale of infant development-second edition (BSID-II) was used to evaluate cognitive developmental level in early childhood. Achenbach's child behaviour checklist (CBCL) for 2- to 3-year-olds was used to investigate behavioural problems. ResultsIn total, 118 young children (73.8%) completed the follow-up; 89.7% of infants with secure attachment and 85.0% of infants with insecure attachment still demonstrated this type of attachment in early childhood (κ=0.738, p<0.05). Infants with insecure attachment collectively exhibited a significantly lower mental development index (MDI) in early childhood than did infants with secure attachment, especially the resistant type. In addition, resistant infants were reported to have greater social withdrawal, sleep problems and aggressive behaviour in early childhood. ConclusionThere is a high consistency in attachment development from infancy to early childhood. Secure mother–infant attachment predicts a better cognitive and behavioural outcome; whereas insecure attachment, especially the resistant attachment, may lead to a lower cognitive level and greater behavioural problems in early childhood.

Moving Beyond the Mother–Child Dyad: Exploring the Link Between Maternal Sensitivity and Siblings’ Attachment Styles

ABSTRACTAttachment theory asserts that secure attachment representations are developed through sensitive and consistent caregiving. If sensitive caregiving is a constant characteristic of the parent, then siblings should have concordant attachment classifications. The authors explored maternal attachment quality assessed by the Attachment Q-Set, maternal sensitivity, and specific mother–child interactions between siblings. Hour-long observations took place in the homes of 9 preschool sibling pairs and their immediate caregivers. The interactions were analyzed using a modified version of Bales’ Small Group Analysis. The results reveal attachment discordance in a third of sibling pairs. While maternal sensitivity was higher with older siblings and mothers displayed more positive emotions when interacting with their younger siblings, attachment quality was not associated with birth order. Therefore, a shift toward a more contextual, family-based perspective of attachment is recommended to further understand how attachment strategies are created and maintained within the child's everyday context.

Children’s attachment to both parents from toddler age to middle childhood: links to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes

We examined children’s attachment security with their mothers and fathers in a community sample (N = 100). At 25 months, mothers, fathers, and trained observers completed Attachment Q-Set (AQS). At 100 months, children completed Kerns Security Scale (KSS) for each parent. Children’s adaptation (behavior problems and competence in broader ecologies of school and peer group, child- and parent-reported) was assessed at 100 months. Generally, the child’s security with the mother and father was modestly to robustly concordant across both relationships, depending on the assessment method. Observers’ AQS security scores predicted children’s self-reported security six years later. For children with low AQS security scores with mothers, variations in security with fathers had significant implications for adaptation. Those whose security with fathers was also low reported the most behavior problems and were seen as least competent in broader ecologies, but those whose security with fathers was high reported few problems and were seen as competent. Observer-rated security with fathers predicted children’s higher competence in broader ecologies, both self- and parent-reported. A cumulative index of the history of security from toddler age to middle childhood, integrating measures across both relationships and diverse methodologies, was significantly associated with positive adaptation at 100 months.

Maternal Attachment, Paternal Overnight Contact, and Very Young Children's Adjustment: Comment on Tornello et al. (2013)

We are compelled to respond to Tornello et al. (2013) because of concerns about measures and theory and because some findings of their study were misleadingly presented. Their results, as described in the abstract and DISCUSSION section, were reported in news media aimed at the general public in the United States (Divorce Study, 2013; Hallas, 2013; HealthDay News, 2013b) and overseas (Asian News International, 2013; Furness, 2013), physicians (HealthDay News, 2013a; Scutti, 2013), and psychologists (British Psychological Society, 2013; Wood, 2013), making these inaccuracies more serious in their impact.We critique the measure used for attachment in Tornello et al.'s study, the results of the investigation with respect to attachment and adjustment, and the authors' argument about a burden of proof. Finally, we summarize our concerns with this highly publicized yet problematic article.MEASURE OF ATTACHMENTTornello et al.'s study introduced a new, neverbefore- used measure for attachment: the Toddler Attachment Q-Sort (TAQS). The authors did validation for this new measure in comparison to the measure from which it was derived (the Attachment Q-Set [AQS; Waters, 1995]). The TAQS is derived from maternal self-reports rather than from an independent assessor. No published analysis of the validity of this measure is presented, although an abstract of a poster presentation (Howard, Brooks-Gunn, & Lubke, 2008) is cited as evidence that the distribution of the TAQS resembles that of the AQS. Hence, we have little reason to believe that the measure of one of the key concepts in this study, attachment, is valid or reliable: The authors built their evidence using shaky materials. They list this as a limitation of their study, but only after making strong claims for their evidence.The measure of attachment used here (i.e., the TAQS) is gender specific; that is, it measures only attachment to mothers, despite previous research that attachment to fathers is important and is related to maternal attachment (van IJzendoorn & Wolff, 1997). Thus, the measure prevents the understanding of how parenting arrangements affect the attachment to fathers and mothers. This deficiency cannot be attributed to Tornello et al., because this appears to have been designed into the Fragile Families survey (QSORT ReleaseMemo, n.d.; Reichman, Teitler, Garfinkel, & McLanahan, 2001), but the authors fail to note this anomaly in the survey and sometimes cloud the gendered nature of their results by referring to parents (p. 882) when their study is confined to nonresident fathers.ATTACHMENT RESULTSThe hypothesis for Tornello et al.'s study was that very young children who had frequent overnights with their fathers would have more insecure attachments with their mothers (p. 874). The authors first tested this hypothesis with a bivariate analysis but with part of the main variable of interest removed; that is, they chose to exclude the category of no in their results, presenting only categories with visits in their comparative analysis. Because of this, we cannot tell whether the children were more secure with visits or without visits (see Table 3 of Tornello et al.). The stated reason for this is: Theory and research tend to focus on the difference in attachment security of young children who experience frequent overnights versus less frequent overnights or day contact (p. 878). Yet earlier the authors complained about the paucity of research on this topic, finding only three extant articles. If Tornello et al. were keen to show the effects of visits, then why would they not illustrate the benefits of visits by showing this category? Moreover, this category is excluded in the regression shown in their Table 5 (predicting attachment insecurity). So, a partial variable is in the bivariate analysis, but the complete variable is in the univariate analysis.The omission of the attachment values from Table 4 is especially strange, given the stated hypothesis/research question, and does not allow us to compare the bivariate relationship with the multivariate relationship in Table 5. …

Attachment Security in Three-Year-Olds who Entered Substitute Care in Infancy.

This study assessed relations among number of out-of-home placement changes, time in caregivers' care, caregiver type (i.e., foster parent, adoptive parent, kinship relation, and biological parent), child gender, and caregiver-child Emotional Availability (EA) as predictive of child attachment security when children were 3 years old in a sample of 104 caregivers and children. Children entered court-ordered care by six months of age. On average, children at the age of three spent 30 months with their caregivers, and nearly half of them were adopted by that time. Child attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q-set (Waters & Deane, 1985), and caregiver-child EA was assessed using the EA Scales, 4th edition (Biringen, 2008). Sixty-six percent of children at age 3 showed secure attachments with caregivers, and EA subscale scores were also relatively high on average. The study predictor variables of EA Caregiver Sensitivity, Child Responsiveness, and Child Involvement predicted attachment security, with girls more likely to be securely attached to their substitute caregivers at age three than boys. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Is the Secure Base Phenomenon Evident Here, There, and Anywhere? A Cross‐Cultural Study of Child Behavior and Experts’ Definitions

The evolutionary rationale offered by Bowlby implies that secure base relationships are common in child-caregiver dyads and thus, child secure behavior observable across diverse social contexts and cultures. This study offers a test of the universality hypothesis. Trained observers in nine countries used the Attachment Q-set to describe the organization of children's behavior in naturalistic settings. Children (N = 547) were 10-72 months old. Child development experts (N = 81) from all countries provided definitions of optimal child secure base use. Findings indicate that children from all countries use their mother as a secure base. Children's organization of secure base behavior was modestly related to each other both within and across countries. Experts' descriptions of the optimally attached child were highly similar across cultures.

Declines in peer conflict from preschool through first grade: Influences from early attachment and social information processing

The transition from preschool to early school years is critical for the growth of social skills. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (for this study N = 942), the purpose of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal influence of attachment security and social information processing skills (social problem-solving and hostile attribution biases) on normative changes in peer conflict over the transition from preschool to first grade. Using latent growth curve modeling (LGM), this study found that children exhibited progressive declines in peer conflict over this period. Security of attachment (assessed via the Attachment Q-Set at 24 months) was related to lower rates of peer conflict in first grade, and steeper declines in peer conflict from 54 to 84 months. Differences in children's social information processing (assessed at 54 months) were marginally related to steeper declines in peer conflict. These findings suggest that the social skills and social expectations associated with early attachment security, together with subsequent advances in social information processing, are related to changes in peer conflict during the transition to school.

Mother–Stranger Comparisons of Social Attention in Jealousy Context and Attachment in HFASD and Typical Preschoolers

Affective bonding, social attention, and intersubjective capabilities are all conditions for jealousy, and are deficient in autism. Thus, examining jealousy and attachment may elucidate the socioemotional deficit in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Jealousy was provoked in 30 high-functioning children with ASD (HFASD) and 30 typical children (ages 3-6 years) through two triadic social (storybook-reading) scenarios - mother-child-rival and stranger-child-rival. A control nonsocial scenario included mother/stranger-book. For both groups, higher jealousy expressions emerged for mother than stranger, and for social than nonsocial scenarios. Attachment security (using Attachment Q-Set) was lower for HFASD than typical groups, but attachment correlated negatively with jealous verbalizations for both groups and with jealous eye gazes for HFASD. Implications for understanding jealousy's developmental complexity and the socioemotional deficit in ASD are discussed.