Caregiver Attachment Research Articles

Is companion animal loss cat-astrophic? Responses of domestic cats to the loss of another companion animal

The examination of grief in nonhuman animals has historically been limited to anecdotal evidence. Recent investigations suggest that the psychological experience of loss may be widespread within the animal kingdom. Many studies have examined caregiver grief following the death of a companion animal but few have examined how other companion animals respond to these deaths. We sought to examine predictors related to the response of surviving domestic cats, following the death of a companion animal within the same household. A total of 412 cat caregivers were surveyed regarding both caregivers’ and surviving cats’ (n = 452) relationship with the deceased pet as well as possible immediate and long-term behavioral changes following the loss of a companion animal within the household. Amount of time spent engaging in activities together in a typical day predicted caregiver reports of increases in grief-like behaviors and fearfulness in surviving cats. More positive relationships between the deceased animal and surviving cat predicted decreases in sleeping, eating, and playing. The longer the cat had lived with the deceased animal, the more the caregivers reported increases in attention-seeking following the death. However, higher levels of caregiver attachment also predicted reports of increases in attention seeking behavior, which may reflect anthropomorphism in the projection of caregiver grief onto surviving companion animals. Consistent with this hypothesis, caregivers who experienced greater grief were more likely to report increases in their surviving cats’ sleep, spending time alone and hiding following the death. If caregivers reported avoidant attachment with the deceased cat, they reported greater decreases in grief-like behaviors in surviving cats following the death, suggesting that caregivers without strong, secure attachment binds were less likely to perceive that their surviving animals experienced grief. This is only the second known exploration of domestic cats’ responses to the death of another companion animal and reveals that cats exhibit similar grief-like behavioral changes following such deaths compared to dogs examined in previous work. That is, they engaged less in sleeping, eating and playing but more in seeking attention from humans and other pets, hiding, spending time alone and appearing to look for their lost companions. Future work is needed to determine whether these results reflect caregivers projecting their own grief onto surviving animal companions or whether cats may also experience grief following companion loss.

Predicting Santri Engagement by Attachment to Caregiver

This study explores the predictive relationship between santri (students in Islamic boarding schools, pesantren) engagement and their attachment to caregivers. Drawing upon a sample of 99 santris (65 males and 34 females) from a boarding school for students aged 10 to 20 years (M = 15.75, SD = 2.16), this research employs convenience sampling and sophisticated questionnaire analysis. Applying the graded response model (GRM) for calibration, the study precisely estimated the santris' scale scores of engagement and attachment, which were subsequently analyzed through regression to examine the predictive capacity of attachment to caregiver on student engagement. Results indicated a significant relationship (b = 0.43, p < 0.01), emphasizing the importance of attachment to caregivers in predicting santri engagement within the pesantren context. The application of GRM enhanced the precision of scaling attachment and engagement. It bolstered the regression analysis's validity, confirming the hypothesis that caregiver attachment can reliably predict student engagement in boarding school settings.

Supporting older youth in care: The role of caregivers

Adolescents living in care are vulnerable to a range of negative outcomes. Although the mental health and substance use problems of foster youth are widely documented, significantly less research examines the influence of caregivers on these two dimensions of health and wellbeing. Given the importance of caregivers to the development of adolescents in child welfare, the present study investigates the relationship between caregiver characteristics, caregiver attachment and placement type on mental health and substance use. The sample consists of 1,093 young people taken from the 2016 Ontario Looking After Children project who are between 16 and 17 years of age. Findings suggest that caregiver attachment, caregiver gender and the caregiver’s school expectations are all significantly associated with mental health and substance use among this population. Results will inform child welfare professionals about a number of risk-predictive factors of mental health and substance use problems among a sample of young people preparing to transition to adulthood. These findings will help service providers design policies and intervention strategies to improve the future outcomes of youth involved in child welfare.

Attachment to parental figures in emerging adults from Brazil, India, and Nigeria: Associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms

Attachment theory suggests that experiences with parents and other caregivers are relevant for psychological functioning into adulthood, especially in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, this work has largely focused on Western countries and has often neglected relationships with paternal figures. The goal of the current study was to test four competing models of parental figure attachment (monotropy, only one attachment relates to symptoms; hierarchical, one attachment is more strongly related to symptoms; independence, both attachments are uniquely important in different ways; and integration, both attachments are uniquely important and interactive) in emerging adults from three countries with different cultures and family structures. We recruited 324 Brazilian, 309 Indian, and 319 Nigerian emerging adults using the online survey platform BeSample. Participants reported attachment to parental figures (maternal and/or paternal), anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Response surface analyses were tested in each country separately. In general, the results supported an integration model with significant interactions between parental figures. However, the direction of this interaction, as well as the presence of non-linear effects, differed by country. Our results suggest caregiver attachment remains relevant for individuals during the transition to young adulthood but with cultural variations.

Finding a secure base: Exploring children’s attachment behaviors with professional caregivers during the first months of daycare

Recent decades have seen a major rise in demand for daycare services for children aged 0 to 3 years, and this has increased research interest in the child-professional caregiver relationship at daycare centers: How does the relationship between children and their new caregivers develop over time? How long does it take for children to settle in at daycare? What variables can influence the settling-in process? These questions are all of the utmost salience and bear crucial implications for children, parents, and daycare practitioners. In this study, we set out to explore the relationship between infants and their new caregivers over the first two months in daycare, using the Professional Caregiver Attachment Diary. The study involved seven Italian daycare centres and 55 professional caregivers, who observed 148 children (M=17.8 months). The children’s attachment behaviors were assessed at three time-points: when the children started attending daycare (T1), one month later (T2), and two months later (T3). We found that positive attachment behaviors (Secure and Non-Distressed) increased over time, whereas insecure behaviors (Avoidant and Resistant) decreased. Most of the change took place during the first month. Furthermore, children who had attended more daycare more regularly (with fewer days of absence) displayed fewer avoidant behaviors and a more rapid decrease in resistant behaviors than did children who were absent more frequently. The findings suggest that the PCAD may be usefully deployed to observe and analyze children while they are settling into a new daycare setting, especially in relation to their exploratory behaviors.

A dyadic examination of patients' and caregivers' attachment orientations and mutually supportive care in cancer caregiving.

Families play a pivotal role in supporting one another during cancer. Research suggests that supportive care interactions between patients and their caregivers can have a positive effect on the physical health and well-being of both members of the dyad. However, few studies have investigated how patient and caregiver personality characteristics intersect with their perceptions of supportive exchanges. Adopting an attachment theory perspective, our aim was to examine the dyadic effects of patient and caregiver attachment orientations on mutually supportive care. Patients (n=103) receiving cancer care and their caregivers (n=99) completed a survey that comprised measures of attachment orientations (Experiences in Close Relationships Modified scale), and mutually supportive care (Shared Care Inventory, SCI-3): communication, decision-making and reciprocity. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs) were used to examine the association between participants' attachment orientations on their own (actor effects) SCI-3 outcomes and those of the other person within the dyad (partner effects). Across the APIMs, the tendency was for an inverse relationship between attachment (anxious and avoidant orientations) and mutually supportive care. Inspection of the effects and dyadic patterns supported actor and couple models. Using a dyadic approach, it was possible to study both intrapersonal and interpersonal effects. Our findings point to interdependence within the cancer caregiving relationship and underscore the importance of considering how individual and relational ways of responding influence support. Attachment theory provides a framework for explaining the observed relationships and a basis for therapeutic intervention.

The role of family functioning, attachment style, and care setting on pre-loss grief symptoms and burden in caregivers of terminally cancer patients.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the associations between caregivers' attachment styles, family functioning, the care setting and pre-loss grief symptoms, the burden, and the caregivers' belief of patients' awareness of the terminal cancer diagnosis. A total of 101 caregivers of patients with terminal cancer in residential hospice care and home care were interviewed and completed self-report questionnaires. Insecure attachment style and home care setting were associated with worse psychological effects in caregivers of patients with terminal cancer. Moreover, family cohesion can promote low social burden and the patient's awareness of their terminal condition. This study highlighted the importance of evaluating the caregiver's attachment style, family functioning, and the setting of care during the terminal phase of the patient's life. These findings will be useful to planning interventions to prevent burden and the pre-loss grief symptoms in the caregivers.

A Mixed Method Investigation of Associations Between Caregiver Attachment and Natural Mentoring Relationships Among Black Adolescents

An integral change that occurs during adolescence is the development of independent close relationships outside of the immediate family unit. In addition to relationships with peers, adolescents are commonly engaged in natural mentoring relationships. Natural mentoring relationships are organically formed mentoring bonds between youth and adults in their pre-existing social networks. In an effort to better uncover factors that contribute to the development of natural mentoring relationships among Black adolescents, the current study examined a pathway between adolescents’ attachment to their parents and the quantity of natural mentors they possessed via their perceptions of adults as helpful. Survey data from 217 Black adolescents and interview data from a subsample of participants ( n = 25) and their parents ( n = 25) were utilized. Our findings document how parent-adolescent attachment is experienced among Black families and how attachment may shape adolescents’ willingness to pursue supportive relationships with non-parental adults. In addition, our findings indicate that more secure parent-adolescent attachment predict greater quantity of natural mentoring relationships indirectly via greater perceptions of adults as helpful. Implications of study findings for the promotion of natural mentoring relationships among Black youth are discussed.

Adult attachment in couples facing stage IV lung cancer: associations with patient quality-of-life outcomes and sense of life completion

Abstract Background: Adult attachment insecurity is associated with poor psychosocial and cancer-related symptom outcomes in patients with cancer; however, there is a paucity of research around the role of the spousal caregivers' attachment in patient quality of life (QOL) at the end of life (EOL). Attachment styles may be particularly relevant for couples coping with prolonged metastatic disease, where the threat of death or disease progression is highly salient. Methods: We conducted secondary analyses on a sample of patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer and their spouses. Participants separately completed questionnaires of attachment style (ECR-S), relationship closeness (PAIR), illness-related communication (holding back one's fear of death or disease progression), and cancer-related distress (IES). Patients additionally completed questionnaires on sense of life completion and QOL at EOL (QUAL-E Completion Subscale and Overall QOL Item) and symptom burden (MDASI-LC). Results: For patients, greater attachment avoidance was associated with lower sense of life completion (r = −0.31, P = .009) and lower overall QOL (r = −0.35, P = .003). Greater patient attachment anxiety was also associated with a lower sense of life completion (r = −0.26, P = .034). Greater caregiver attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety were associated with patient reports of lower overall QOL (r = −0.38, P = .001, r = −0.36, P = .002, respectively). In addition, greater caregiver attachment anxiety was associated with greater patient symptom burden (r = 0.24, P = .048) controlling for patient's own attachment anxiety. For both patients and caregivers, greater attachment anxiety was associated with more “holding back” from communicating their fear of death or disease progression with their spouse (r = 0.25, P = .036; r = 0.31, P = .011, respectively). Dyadic analyses revealed a positive association within the couple for attachment avoidance (r = 0.41, P < .01) and anxiety (r = 0.31, P < .01). Conclusion: Both spousal caregiver and patient attachment styles are highly relevant to illness communication patterns and patient QOL outcomes.

Factors affecting loneliness among left-behind children.

In Vietnam, research on the impact of parental migration on left-behind children (LBC) has discussed various dimensions of the subject such as subjective well-being, emotional states, social skills, self-esteem and nutrition of LBC. However, there are still gaps in studies on loneliness among LBC in Vietnam. The study aims to explore the status of loneliness in LBC, including associated protective and risk factors, to make suggestions on preventive measures against LBC's loneliness. The conveniently selected sample includes 439 LBC in 4 Vietnamese provinces: Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh and Nghe An. The mean age is 12.73 (SD = 1.68). Female children account for 47.80%. The Children's Loneliness Scale was employed in the study. The total loneliness score of LBC is 28.62 (SD = 9.40), 95% CI: 27.75-29.48. Perceived social support from friends, caregivers and resilience factors of affect control (RAC), family support (RFS) and help-seeking (RHS) are protective factors for loneliness of LBC, with regression coefficient of -.27, -.18, -.11, -.11 and -.09 respectively. Perceived social support from friends, care-giving attachment and resilience factors of RAC, RFS, and RHS are protective factors for LBC against loneliness. Parents, teachers and guardians are encouraged to have a close connection with LBC, provide adequate care giving; and create a supportive environment for LBC in pursuing healthy peer relationships and train/improve children's skills to strengthen their resilience.

Examining the risk and predictive factors for substance use and mental health among indigenous youth in out-of-home care

BackgroundYouth exposed to the child welfare system are among society’s most vulnerable citizens. Despite research highlighting the harms that typically follow child welfare placement, little is known regarding the factors that influence substance use and mental health among older Indigenous youth in out-of-home care. ObjectiveThe objective of this research are to provide a recent snapshot of the severity of substance use and mental health problems among older Indigenous youth in-care, identify factors driving the high prevalence of Indigenous youth in the child welfare system, and provide information on factors that could reduce health disparities among Indigenous youth. MethodUsing data from the 2016 Ontario Looking After Children project, this study examines the risk-predictive factors of substance use and positive mental health among 1173 youth between 16 and 17 years of age in out-of-home care. ResultsFindings reveal no significant difference in positive mental health between older Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, but Indigenous youth are more likely to engage in substance use. Results also indicate that unstructured living arrangements, placement instability, low caregiver attachment, school suspensions, and deviant peer associations impact substance use and/or mental health among this population. ConclusionsThis study offers insight into how older Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in the child welfare system fare with respect to substance use and mental health. While there are no differences in positive mental health, findings from this study warrant further investigation into the factors for substance use for older Indigenous youth.

Promoting interactive skills and mind-mindedness among early childcare professionals: study protocol for a randomized wait-list controlled trial comparing the Circle of Security approach with care as usual in center-based childcare (the SECURE project)

BackgroundIn countries where the majority of young children are enrolled in professional childcare, the childcare setting constitutes an important part of children’s caregiving environment. Research consistently shows that particularly the quality of the daily interactions and relationship between young children and their professional caregivers have long-term effects on a range of developmental child outcomes. Therefore, professional caregivers’ capacity for establishing high quality interactions with the children in their care is an important target of intervention.MethodsA prospective, parallel, cluster-randomized wait-list controlled trial is used to test the efficacy of the attachment- and mentalization theory informed Circle of Security (COS) approach adapted to the childcare setting (COS-Classroom) on caregiver interactive skills and mind-mindedness. Participants are professional caregivers of children aged 0–2.9 years working in center-based childcare in Denmark. Approximately 31 childcare centers, corresponding to an estimated 113 caregivers, are expected to participate. The primary outcome is caregiver Sensitive responsiveness measured with the Caregiver Interactive Profile Scales (CIP-scales). Secondary outcomes include caregiver Mind-mindedness, the five remaining CIP-scales (Respect for autonomy, Structure and limit setting, Verbal communication, Developmental stimulation, and Fostering positive peer interactions), and caregivers’ resources to cope with work-related stress. Data on structural factors (e.g., staff stability, caregiver-child ratio, and level of pre-service education), caregiver attachment style, acceptability and feasibility of the COS-C together with qualitative data on how the participants experience the COS-C is additionally collected to investigate moderating and confounding effects.DiscussionExamining the effectiveness of the COS-C in center-based childcare contributes to the knowledge of evidence-based intervention programs and can potentially improve the caregiver quality early childcare.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04654533. Prospectively registered December 4, 2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04654533.

Childhood Disruptions in Caregiving, Adult Parental Attachment, and Borderline Features in Emerging Adulthood: Rejection Sensitivity as a Mechanism of Influence.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric disorder first diagnosed in adolescence or emerging adulthood, which develops in part in the context of early attachment relationships. We tested a cross-sectional model linking caregiver disruptions during childhood, current parental attachment, and rejection sensitivity, to borderline features in 2,546 emerging adult college students. A structural equation model revealed that childhood caregiver disruptions were associated with lower quality adult parental attachment. Moreover, rejection sensitivity mediated the relationship between adult parental attachment and borderline features. Results suggest a representational model of others as rejecting links early disruptions in caregiving relationships and attachment insecurity, to borderline features in emerging adulthood. Implications for practice are discussed, including for means of targeting cognitive schemas related to rejection sensitivity, which could lead to reductions in BPD symptoms.

Dying within dyads: Stress, sense of security and support during palliative home care.

ObjectivesTo examine similarities and dissimilarities in patient and family caregiver dyads in their experience of stress, support, and sense of security.Methods144 patients and their family caregivers participated. Patients were admitted to six Swedish specialist palliative home care units and diagnosed with a non-curable disease with an expected short survival. We analysed similarity patterns of answers within dyads (correlations) as well as dissimilarities, expressed as the difference between within-dyad responses. The latter were subjected to a model-building procedure using GLM, with 13 sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as independent variables.ResultsWithin dyads, patients and family caregivers scored similar in their perception of support and sense of security with care. There was also dissimilarity within dyad responses in their perception of stress and support that could be attributed to sociodemographic or clinical characteristics. When patients scored higher levels of stress than family caregivers, the family caregiver was more likely to be male. Also family caregiver attachment style (attachment anxiety), patient age and the relationship of the family caregiver to the patient explained dissimilarities within the dyads.ConclusionsPatients and family caregivers within the dyads often, but not always, had similar scores. We suggest that it is important that the healthcare staff identify situations in which perceptions within the dyads regarding stress and perception of support differ, such that they can recognise patients’ and family caregivers’ unique needs in different situations, to be able to provide adequate support and facilitate dyadic coping.

The Activation Relationship to Father and the Attachment Relationship to Mother in Children with Externalizing Behaviors and Receiving Psychiatric Care

The activation relationship refers to the emotional bond a child develops with a parent that helps ensure the regulation of risk-taking during child exploration of the surrounding environment. As a complement to Bowlby’s attachment theory, activation relationship theory provides a greater understanding of the impact of fathering on child development, focusing primarily on parental stimulation of risk-taking and control during child exploration. The overarching objective of this article is to better understand the association between children’s relationship quality with both parents, via the activation to father and the attachment to mother relationships, and child externalizing behaviors in a clinical sample. Fifty two-parent families (40 boys and 10 girls) were recruited at random from a population of children receiving treatment at the perinatal and early childhood psychiatry clinic. Results with 44 children (with complete cases) showed that overactivated preschoolers displayed more externalizing behaviors than did children with either an activated or an under-activated relationship with their father. Results also showed that children with a disorganized-controlling caregiving attachment to their mother marginally presented with higher levels of externalizing behavior.

Conceptual Analysis: A Social Neuroscience Approach to Interpersonal Interaction in the Context of Disruption and Disorganization of Attachment (NAMDA).

Humans are strongly dependent upon social resources for allostasis and emotion regulation. This applies especially to early childhood because humans—as an altricial species—have a prolonged period of dependency on support and input from caregivers who typically act as sources of co-regulation. Accordingly, attachment theory proposes that the history and quality of early interactions with primary caregivers shape children's internal working models of attachment. In turn, these attachment models guide behavior, initially with the set goal of maintaining proximity to caregivers but eventually paving the way to more generalized mental representations of self and others. Mounting evidence in non-clinical populations suggests that these mental representations coincide with differential patterns of neural structure, function, and connectivity in a range of brain regions previously associated with emotional and cognitive capacities. What is currently lacking, however, is an evidence-based account of how early adverse attachment-related experiences and/or the emergence of attachment disorganization impact the developing brain. While work on early childhood adversities offers important insights, we propose that how these events become biologically embedded crucially hinges on the context of the child–caregiver attachment relationships in which the events take place. Our selective review distinguishes between direct social neuroscience research on disorganized attachment and indirect maltreatment-related research, converging on aberrant functioning in neurobiological systems subserving aversion, approach, emotion regulation, and mental state processing in the wake of severe attachment disruption. To account for heterogeneity of findings, we propose two distinct neurobiological phenotypes characterized by hyper- and hypo-arousal primarily deriving from the caregiver serving either as a threatening or as an insufficient source of co-regulation, respectively.

A strange situation indeed: Fostering leader–follower attachment security during unprecedented crisis

PurposeWe discuss how attachment theory can help leaders maintain security in their relationships with followers during crisis, using the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic as an example. We describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined the typical ways leaders may have fostered secure relationships with their followers. Guided by Lewin's action research paradigm, we integrate research on attachment theory with recent research on the COVID-19 pandemic to present leader interventions to maintain attachment security in spite of the disruption caused by COVID-19. We then discuss how these propositions can guide leader interventions in other types of crisis.Design/methodology/approachAttachment theory has received considerable attention in recent years from management and leadership scholars. We extend this line of inquiry by drawing parallels between the strange situation, a now classic paradigm for researching infant–caregiver attachment systems, to understand attachment security in leader–follower relationships during times of crisis.FindingsWe find that the crises such as COVID-19 present a challenge to attachment security in leader–follower relationships. We also find that research on adult attachment in response to crises and traumatic events is relevant to understanding how leaders can foster positive relations with followers during times of crisis when physical proximity is not possible.Originality/valueWe apply attachment theory and leadership research to present a framework for leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, many of our theoretical assertions and related interventions could be applied to other unprecedented crises that disrupt leader–follower relationships. Hence, our paper offers a unique lens that is centered on the attachment security within the leader–follower relationship during crisis.

Family emotional climate in childhood and risk of PTSD in adult children of Australian Vietnam veterans

The mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from parent to child are not yet known. We hypothesised that the mechanisms involved in trauma transmission may be dependent upon sex specific caregiver-child dyads and these dyads may have a differential impact on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A non-clinical sample of adult offspring (N = 306) of Australian Vietnam veterans was interviewed in-person to assess the relationship between family emotional climate and caregiver attachment with the offspring's adult experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Attachment to the veteran father was not associated with sons’ PTSD, but was for daughters. Attachment to mother was associated with PTSD and depression for both sons and daughters, with positive and warm attachment related to reduced PTSD diagnosis and its symptom clusters. A less positive family emotional environment was related to increased PTSD symptoms in daughters, while for sons a negative relationship style with their mother was related to increased frequency and severity of numbing/avoidance behaviours and hyperarousal symptoms. The findings suggest that sex-related differences in caregiver-child dyads do have a differential impact on PTSD symptom domains and may be one environmental mechanism by which trauma is transmitted across generations.

Attachement et parcours de l’aidant face à l’épreuve du cancer

Since the last cancer plan 2014-2019, the assessment of the impact of the disease on caregivers became essential. The quality of caregiving represents an important part of the patient's quality of life. The main objective was to describe the evolution of caregiver's attachment style during the first three years of the disease support. Caregivers have been included through the ICE study (Informal Carers of Elderly). They were taking care for one near parent at least 60years of age with a diagnosis of cancer (breast, prostate, colorectal). Caregivers were interviewed at home within three months of inclusion in the ICE study. This longitudinal research based on recorded semi-structured interviews and used one scale (RSQ) to evaluate the attachment style: secure attachment, detached-type insecure, preoccupied-type insecure or fearful-type insecure. The evolution of attachment styles reflect different relational strategies among the 33caregivers included. The three first times of the disease are differently lived by the caregivers and are impacted by an insecurity form. The attachment style is different depending on the stage of the disease and the impact of the assistance provided shows that caregivers use more detachment relational strategy in the first year. Then, between 3and 15months, the attachment style is evolving towards more preoccupied style. Detached-type insecure caregiver tend to minimize their signs of distress in the first time of disease. By contrast, preoccupied-type insecure adults tend to maximize distress signals. It's important to consider the specificity of each step of the process to better support caregivers.

Caregiver's Sensitivity and Attachment Security in Early Childhood Education Settings in the Kpandai District of the Republic of Ghana

Caregiver sensitivity in early childhood education settings is considered as a significant association moderating between the caregivers and children's learning outcome. The current study advance the very limited knowledge about Ghanaian early childhood education settings particularly in Kpandai District and use a wide range of prior literature based on sensitivity hypothesis of attachment theory that relates sensitive nurture with attachment security. The study is quantitative in nature design to analyze the relation between 16 caregivers’ sensitivity and attachment security of their preschool children. Two instruments were used for assessment: Caregiver Behaviour for Pre-schoolers Q-set and Attachment Behaviour Q-set Version 3.0. The study posits a level of sensitivity similar to the previously reported, and a slightly higher level of children security was found. Regarding the relation between both variables, sensitivity was found as a predictor of attachment security. The study, however, recommended a replication of this study in other cultural contexts in which the paternal figure be included and with other development conditions groups. Keywords: caregiver sensitivity, attachment relations, early childhood education DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-17-05 Publication date: October 31 st 2020