Maternal Attachment Security Research Articles

Maternal Mental State Language and Preschool Children's Attachment Security: Relation to Children's Mental State Language and Expressions of Emotional Understanding

AbstractMothers’ mental state language in conversation with their preschool children, and children's preschool attachment security were examined for their effects on children's mental state language and expressions of emotional understanding in their conversation. Children discussed an emotionally salient event with their mothers and then relayed the event to a stranger. Compared to mothers of insecurely attached children, mothers of securely attached children used more mental state language and had children who used more mental state language with both mother and stranger, and who expressed more emotional understanding in the mother–child conversation. Maternal mental state language and attachment security made shared contributions to children's mental state language with their mothers. Maternal mental state language accounted for the effects of attachment security on children's expressions of emotional understanding in the mother–child conversation. Mothers’ mental state language to their children may enhance secure attachment and foster children's understanding of mental states in self and others.

Script-like attachment representations and behavior in families and across cultures: Studies of parental secure base narratives

The articles included in this Special Issue of Attachment and Human Development were originally presented as contributions to symposia at the Society for Research in Child Development (Atlanta, Georgia, April 2005) and at the European Developmental Psychology Conference (Laguna, Canary Islands, August 2005). The articles represent efforts of independent research teams studying the emergence, maintenance, and implications of attachment representations. In each study, a central measure of attachment representation was a recently described measure of the secure base script (Waters & Rodrigues-Doolabh, 2004). This measure assesses the “scriptedness” of secure base content in stories told in response to a set of word-prompts. Each paper included in this special issue addresses a specific issue relevant to the reliability, validity, or broader utility of the attachment script representation measure as an indicator of the respondent's awareness of and access to a secure base script. The first paper provides a précis of the measure itself, including its conceptual underpinnings and the notion of “scriptedness” as it relates to the secure base construct. In the second article, the cross-time stability of the scriptedness scores is tested. The third and fourth articles present relations between the scriptedness score from the new measure and indices of state of mind about attachment from the Adult Attachment Interview (one sample of Italian mothers, the other in a sample of adolescents). The fifth article describes relations between the attachment script representation score and mother – child interaction during a memory reminiscence task. The final article in this set is a report on associations between the maternal attachment script representations and child attachment security for a sample of adopting mothers and adopted children. Taken together, these studies provide broad support for this new procedure and scoring system to capture important aspects of secure base knowledge for adults and also provide evidence for the relevance of secure base scripts in the socialization of child secure base behavior.

Editorial

Editorial

Socioemotional development in adolescents at risk for depression: The role of maternal depression and attachment style

We examined the impact on adolescent socioemotional functioning of maternal postnatal depression (PND) and attachment style. We also investigated the role of earlier aspects of the child's development-attachment in infancy, and 5-year representations of family relationships. Ninety-one mother-child pairs, recruited in the postnatal period, were followed up at 13 years. Adolescents were interviewed about their friendships, and their level of emotional sensitivity and maturity were rated. Emotional sensitivity was heightened in girls whose mothers experienced PND; notably, its occurrence was also linked to insecure attachment in infancy and raised awareness of emotional components of family relationships at 5 years. High emotional sensitivity was also associated with adolescent depressed mood. Raised social maturity was predicted by a secure maternal attachment style and, for girls, by exposure to maternal PND. Precursors of adolescent social maturity were evident in the narrative coherence of 5-year family representations. Higher social maturity in the friendship interview was also associated with overall good adjustment.

Maternal Emotional Expressiveness and Attachment Security: Links to Representations of Relationships and Social Behavior

The goal of this study was to examine whether the security of the relationship between mothers and children influenced the relation between maternal emotional expressiveness and aspects of children’s social development. Fifty-one preschool children (M age = 52.80 months) and their mothers took part in the study. At their homes, mothers completed the Attachment Q-set. At the lab, children completed a measure of their representations of family relationships, while mothers completed measures of maternal emotional expressiveness and reports of the child’s social competence. Findings supported the idea that the quality of the attachment relationship moderated the influence of maternal positive expressiveness. For children who were low in attachment security, maternal positive expressiveness was an important predictor of representations of relationships. For those who were high in attachment security, maternal positive expressiveness was unrelated to social development. Overall, the pattern of findings suggests that high levels of maternal positive expressiveness may compensate for a lack of attachment security in promoting social development. Although researchers have found fairly consistent links between maternal emotional expressiveness and children’s social behavior, they have yet to examine how maternal expressiveness relates to children’s developing relationship schemes. In addition, researchers also have not yet examined how the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship might moderate the links between maternal emotional expressiveness and children’s social development. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the links between

Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Security in Thailand: Cross-Cultural Validation of Western Measures

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of Thai versions of the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS), Caldwell's HOME, and the Attachment Q-set (AQS). A sample of 110 Thai mother-infant dyads were studied. The Content Validity Index (CVIs) of the Thai MBQS, HOME and AQS were between 91% and 99%. Internal consistency of the HOME was .71. Interobserver reliability of the MBQS, HOME, and AQS were .95, .87, and .87, respectively. Convergent validity was supported by finding a positive correlation between the MBQS and the HOME (r = .29, p < .001). A positive correlation of .45 (p < .001) between the scores of the MBQS and the AQS indicated concurrent validity of these scales. Study findings indicate the Thai MBQS, HOME, and AQS are reliable and valid in this Thai sample and suggest that the Thai versions reflect concepts similar to those in the original English versions.

Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Security in Thailand: Cross-Cultural Validation of Western Measures

Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Security in Thailand: Cross-Cultural Validation of Western Measures

The Relation of Maternal Behavior and Attachment Security to Toddlers' Emotions and Emotion Regulation

In this study, we examined characteristics of the mother-child context that may support young children's emotion expressions and emotion regulation. We observed children (N = 154) in four emotion-eliciting episodes to measure their emotion expressions and mother-focused regulation strategies. Mothers reported on the toddlers' attachment security. Lower levels of maternal controlling behaviors and higher levels of attachment security were associated with more adaptive emotion expressions by toddlers, and more maternal positive behavior was associated with more mother-focused regulation. Toddlers' use of mother-focused regulation was also associated with decreased levels of negative affect in positive and fear emotioneliciting tasks but not in frustration tasks. The associations differed for boys and girls and differed depending on the context of the specific emotion elicited.

Links between risk and attachment security: Models of influence

The relation between maternal behavior and child attachment security is weaker among low SES samples, but it is unclear how stressors/risks associated with low SES alter the dynamics of attachment relationships. Results of this study of 63 low income mothers and their 24–36-month-old children indicated that the influence of multiple economic risks on children's security is mediated through an associated effect on maternal behavior, while emotional risks–those directly affecting the emotional climate of the home–exert direct influences on child security not mediated by maternal behavior. A moderating effect of emotional risks on the relation between maternal behavior and child security suggested that maternal behavior is less strongly associated with child security in families with many emotional risks. Implications of emotional risks as predictors of child security and the characteristics of low-income homes that moderate the association between security and maternal behavior are discussed.

Differences in attachment security between African-American and white children: ethnicity or socio-economic status?

The NICHD Early Childcare Research Network data set was used to examine differences in attachment security between African-American children ( n = 142) and white children ( n = 1002). African-American children's mean score on the Attachment Q-sort (AQS) [Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 60 (1995) 234] was substantially lower (.20) than that of white children's (.30). The pattern of covariation between attachment security and predictor variables was similar in the African-American and white subgroups. In both groups, maternal sensitivity was the strongest predictor of attachment security. A mediational model explaining the difference in attachment security included income and sensitivity: African-American ethnicity was related to low income which through (in-)sensitivity affected the quality of the infant–mother attachment relationship ( family stress model). Our findings on African-American mother–infant dyads support one of the basic tenets of attachment theory: the association between maternal sensitivity and attachment security. Children of African-American and white families in the USA may be exposed to culturally specific experiences, but these do not alter the relation between attachment security and pertinent predictor variables. Poverty may, however, seriously hamper maternal sensitivity.

Relationships Between Maternal Adult Attachment Security, Child Perceptions of Maternal Support, and Maternal Perceptions of Child Responses to Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT This study assessed the relationships between maternal adult attachment style, children's perceptions of maternal support following disclosure of sexual abuse, and maternal perceptions of children's behavioral and emotional responses to sexual abuse among African-American child sexual abuse victims aged 4 to 12 (n = 96) and a comparison group of nonabused subjects (n = 100). Mothers with insecure attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of internalizing behaviors in their sexually abused children than did securely attached mothers. Among mothers of nonabused children, those with insecure adult attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of externalizing behaviors shown by their children in comparison with mothers with a secure adult attachment style. Mothers with insecure adult attachment styles also reported higher rates of overall behavior problems in their nonabused children that approached statistical significance. Sexually abused children's perceptions of maternal support were not related to maternal attachment style nor to child functioning. Contrary to our prediction, mothers of sexually abused children did not show lower rates of secure attachments when compared to mothers of nonsexually abused children. Our findings indicate that fostering parent-child attachment is important in order to decrease the risk for behavior problems and symptomatology in sexually abused children.

Ecological constraints on the formation of infant–mother attachment relations: When maternal sensitivity becomes ineffective

This study investigated in a sample of infants and mothers that represented the full SES spectrum in Israel ( n=704) the hypothesis that low quality non-maternal care imposes ecological constraints on infant–mother attachment formation by moderating the relations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security. Infant attachment to mother was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) [Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1978] and maternal sensitivity was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales [The Emotional Availability Scales, Unpublished manuscript, University of Colorado, Health Science Center, Denver, 1993]. Results show that the expected links between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security were found only for infants in individual care but not for infants in daycare centers, which were of low quality. The findings suggest that extensive exposure to difficult environments of non-maternal care constrains infants’ relations with their mothers by moderating the associations between maternal sensitive caregiving and infants’ attachment security.

Differentiating among insecure mother - infant attachment classifications: A focus on child - friend interaction and exploration during solitary play at 36 months

Utilizing data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, the primary objective of the current report was to examine how avoidant and resistant mother-infant attachment classifications at 15 months were differentially associated with children's interaction with a same-sex friend and exploration during solitary play at 36 months. The added contributions of attachment security at 36 months and maternal sensitivity from 6 to 36 months to the prediction of child outcomes were also explored. As hypothesized, an avoidant attachment history was related to more instrumental aggression during child-friend interaction, whereas a resistant attachment history was associated with less self-assertion/control among friends and less attention and pretend play during exploration. Maternal sensitivity and concurrent attachment security also made unique contributions to the prediction of child outcomes at 36 months, although associations with 15-month attachment remained significant when these subsequent measures of the mother-child relationship were considered. Few differences emerged for the disorganized mother-infant attachment category in this relatively low-risk sample. Results underscore the need to differentiate between avoidant and resistant attachment groups and illustrate how early attachment history and subsequent indices of the mother-child relationship contribute to children's functioning.

Patterns of Attachment and Maternal Discourse Effects on Children's Emotion Understanding From 3 to 5 Years of Age

Abstract Two studies examined the influence of maternal discourse style and security of attachment, and their interaction, on preschoolers’ emotion understanding. The first, with 3‐year‐olds, unexpectedly found no significant prediction of emotion understanding from attachment and discourse, and the interaction of the predictors yielded theoretically unpredicted associations with emotion understanding. Consequently, measures of attachment and emotion understanding were obtained again on these children at age 5 in a second study. At this age, consistent with expectations, secure attachment predicted higher emotion understanding, especially in the context of maternal use of elaborative discourse from the earlier assessment. The findings suggest that during the period of significant representational advance between ages 3 and 5, the influence of maternal discourse and attachment security are developmentally transformed as children's conceptions of psychological states rapidly change. By age 5, however, maternal elaborative discourse in the context of attachment security fosters deeper emotion understanding in preschoolers.

Facial Appearance and Attachment in Infants With Orofacial Clefts: A Replication

Abstract Objective: The current study sought to replicate an unexpected finding reported by Speltz et al. (1997): relatively unattractive infants at age 3 months were more likely than attractive infants to show secure maternal attachment at age 12 months, a finding unaffected by the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate (CLP), cleft palate only (CPO), or the absence of a cleft condition. Design: We evaluated the effects of diagnosis (CLP, CPO, or no diagnosis) and age (3, 12, and 24 months) on facial attractiveness ratings derived from a modified Q-sort method. Setting: Craniofacial clinic in an urban children's hospital. Participants: Infants with CLP and CPO and typically developing infants without clefts (n = 126) and their mothers. Ratings were made by 13 adults unfamiliar with cleft conditions. Main Outcome Measures: Facial attractiveness ratings. Results: Infants with CLP were rated as the least attractive at all time points. At ages 12 and 24 months, infants in the CPO group were rated as less attracti...

Facial appearance and attachment in infants with orofacial clefts: a replication.

The current study sought to replicate an unexpected finding reported by: relatively unattractive infants at age 3 months were more likely than attractive infants to show secure maternal attachment at age 12 months, a finding unaffected by the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate (CLP), cleft palate only (CPO), or the absence of a cleft condition. We evaluated the effects of diagnosis (CLP, CPO, or no diagnosis) and age (3, 12, and 24 months) on facial attractiveness ratings derived from a modified Q-sort method. Craniofacial clinic in an urban children's hospital. Infants with CLP and CPO and typically developing infants without clefts (n = 126) and their mothers. Ratings were made by 13 adults unfamiliar with cleft conditions. Facial attractiveness ratings. Infants with CLP were rated as the least attractive at all time points. At ages 12 and 24 months, infants in the CPO group were rated as less attractive than typical infants but more attractive than infants in the CLP group. Typical infants and those with CLP-but not CPO-received higher attractiveness ratings with age. As hypothesized, less attractive infants, regardless of diagnosis, were more likely to show secure attachment than were more attractive infants. We tentatively conclude that the perceived vulnerability of young infants, as indexed by atypical or unattractive facial characteristics, engenders extraordinary protectiveness and responsiveness in some mothers, leading to a higher probability of secure attachment. A test of this hypothesis with a new sample of infants is recommended.

Autonomic and brain electrical activity in securely- and insecurely-attached infants of depressed mothers

The present study examined the combined influences of maternal depression and attachment security on infants’ brain activity and autonomic activity. Brain electrical activity, heart rate, and vagal tone were recorded from 159 13–15 month old infants of depressed, subthreshold depressed, and nondepressed mothers during a baseline and two social interaction conditions. Attachment behavior was observed during the traditional Strange Situation. It was found that infants of depressed mothers exhibited reduced left relative to right frontal brain activity during all conditions. Moreover, regardless of mother’s depression status, insecurely attached infants exhibited relative reduced left frontal brain activity. Infants of depressed mothers were also found to exhibit higher heart rates across all conditions. These results indicate that both maternal depression and attachment security are associated with alterations in infants’ psychophysiological responses.

Are infant crying and maternal responsiveness during the first year related to infant-mother attachment at 15 months?

In this longitudinal investigation, Bell and Ainsworth's (1972) Baltimore study on maternal responsiveness, infant crying and infant attachment security was replicated and extended. Each of the 50 families was observed at home during more than 20 hours, and infant crying behavior as well as maternal responses were recorded. Mothers and their infants were observed in the Strange Situation procedure at 15 months of age. Descriptive results showed that infants produced about the same number of crying bouts across the first 40 weeks after birth, but the duration of the bouts decreased by half during this period. The duration of crying peaked in the first nine weeks. The descriptive data are remarkably similar to the findings of Bell and Ainsworth (1972). Maternal responsiveness influenced crying behavior. Contrary to our expectations, the more frequently mothers ignored their infants' crying bouts in the first nine-week period, the less frequently their infants cried in the following nine-week period, even if intervening variables like earlier crying and synchronous responsiveness were controlled for. ‘Benign neglect’ of fussing may stimulate the emergent abilities in infants to cope with mild distress. Extending an earlier report on this investigation (Hubbard & van IJzendoorn, 1991), we found that crying at home did not differentiate between secure and insecure attachment classifications, and it was not related to Strange Situation crying. Mothers of avoidant infants responded most promptly to their infants' crying. The failure to replicate the Baltimore findings was interpreted in terms of ‘differential responsiveness’.

A Meta-Analysis of Time between Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Assessments: Implications for Internal Working Models in Infancy/Toddlerhood

This meta-analysis of maternal sensitivity and infant/toddler attachment security includes 41 studies with 2243 dyads. Its purpose is to explore the impact of time between assessments of maternal sensitivity and attachment security on the strength of association between these two constructs. We also examined the interrelationships between this moderator variable and other moderators identified in the literature, such as age and risk status of the sample. We found an overall effect size of r = .27 linking sensitivity to security. However, time between assessment of sensitivity and attachment security moderates this effect size, such that: (1) effect sizes decrease dramatically as one moves from concurrent to nonconcurrent assessments, and (2) temporally distant assessments are a sufficient condition for small effect size; that is, if the time between assessments is large, then a relatively small effect size linking sensitivity and attachment is certain. We also found that time between sensitivity and attachment assessments may account for earlier findings indicating that effect sizes linking sensitivity to security differ according to age of child and sample risk status. Findings are discussed in terms of internal working models and environmental stability.

Maternal care and attachment security in ordinary and emergency contexts.

One of the foundations of attachment theory is the notion that early care plays a key role in determining the quality of child-caregiver attachment relationships. Studies have consistently shown relations between maternal sensitivity and infant security. Further research is required to resolve issues arising from modest correlations, focus on research in stressful as opposed to ordinary contexts, and questions about the generality of results across cultures and social contexts and about the context specificity of caregiving behavior. This article addressed these issues in 2 studies of child care in home and hospital contexts. Q-sort scores derived from extended naturalistic observations were used. Results are discussed in terms of links between methodology and effect sizes, the generality of links between maternal care and child security, the need for further research on caregiving in ordinary and emergency situations, and the context sensitivity of maternal behavior.