Child Attachment Security Research Articles

Forecasting friendship: How marital quality, maternal mood, and attachment security are linked to children's peer relationships

Mothers' perceptions of marital quality and depressed mood and children's attachment security and friendship quality were assessed in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. One month after their birth and again when the children were 3 and 4 years old and in first and third grades, mothers rated the quality of their marital relationship; when the children were 2 years old, the Attachment Q-Set was used to assess the mother–child attachment relationship; the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale was used to measure the mother's depressed mood when the child was 2 years old and in third grade; and when children were in fourth grade, they were observed interacting with their best friend to assess friendship quality. Using a series of regression and path analyses, we determined whether and how marital quality, maternal mood, and attachment security predicted friendship quality. Better quality friendship interactions in fourth grade were significantly associated with better marital quality and greater attachment security. The association between marital quality and friendship quality was partially mediated by attachment security. Friendship quality was not related to maternal mood.

Maternal secure-base scripts and children’s attachment security in an adopted sample

Studies of families with adopted children are of special interest to attachment theorists because they afford opportunities to probe assumptions of attachment theory with regard to the developmental timing of interactions necessary to form primary attachments and also with regard to effects of shared genes on child attachment quality. In Bowlby's model, attachment-relevant behaviors and interactions are observable from the moment of birth, but for adoptive families, these interactions cannot begin until the child enters the family, sometimes several months or even years post-partum. Furthermore, because adoptive parents and adopted children do not usually share genes by common descent, any correspondence between attachment representations of the parent and secure base behavior of the child must arise as a consequence of dyadic interaction histories. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether the child's age at the time of adoption or at the time of attachment assessment predicted child attachment security in adoptive families and also whether the adoptive mother's internal attachment representation predicted the child's attachment security. The participants were 106 mother – child dyads selected from the 406 adoptions carried out through the Lisbon Department of Adoption Services over a period of 3 years. The Attachment Behavior Q-Set (AQS; Waters, 1995) was used to assess secure base behavior and an attachment script representation task was used to assess the maternal attachment representations. Neither child's age at the time of adoption, nor age of the child at assessment significantly predicted the AQS security score; however, scores reflecting the presence and quality of maternal secure base scripts did predict AQS security. These findings support the notion that the transmission of attachment security across generations involves mutual exchanges and learning by the child and that the exchanges leading to secure attachment need not begin at birth. These results complement the findings and conceptual arguments offered by Bowlby and Ainsworth concerning the critical influence of maternal representations of attachment to the quality of attachment security in children.

Maternal secure base scripts, children's attachment security, and mother – child narrative styles

This paper reports the results of a study examining links between maternal representations of attachment, child attachment security, and mother and child narrative styles assessed in the context of reminiscences about shared experiences. Participants were 90 mother – child dyads. Child attachment security was assessed using the attachment Q-set and maternal attachment representations were measured using a recently designed instrument that assesses the script-like qualities of those representations. Analyses examined dependencies in the mother – child memory talk data and then assessed the overlap between both mother and child reminiscing styles and the attachment variables. Narrative styles of both the mothers and their children were coherent and consistent for each dyad member. Furthermore, maternal narrative style (e.g., specific and elaborative questions, using confirming evaluation comments) was significantly related to child participation in the narrative. Maternal and child attachment variables were positively and significantly correlated, and child security was positively associated with maternal narrative style. Maternal secure base scripts were also found to be significantly related to the number of references to emotions in both mother and child narratives as well as to children's overall participation in the memory talk. The pattern of results suggests that attachment representations serve as one influence on the manner(s) in which mother – child dyads think about and discuss emotion-laden content relevant to the child's personal autobiography. Furthermore, the results are consistent with the notion that the manner in which children organize their thoughts about emotion are (at least potentially) shaped by the narrative styles of their parents.

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.

Behaviour problems in 18- to 36-month old children of alcoholic fathers: secure mother-infant attachment as a protective factor.

This study examined the relationship between paternal alcoholism and toddler behavior problems from 18 to 36 months of age, as well as the potential moderating effects of 12-month infant-mother attachment security on this relationship. Children with alcoholic fathers had higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior than children of nonalcoholic fathers. Simple effects testing of an interaction effect of child age, group, and attachment security with mothers on externalizing behaviour suggested that at 24 and 36 months of age mother-infant attachment security moderated the relationship between alcohol group status and externalizing behaviour. Namely, within the alcohol group, those children with secure relationships with their mothers had significantly lower externalizing than insecure children of alcoholics. A similar pattern was noted for internalizing behavior at 36 months of age. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Attachment, Temperament, and Preschool Children's Peer Acceptance

AbstractThis study examined the relations between preschool children's attachment security, temperament, and peer acceptance. Ninety‐eight preschool children and their mothers were recruited through childcare centers in the southeast. Mothers and their children participated in two two‐hour home observations. Attachment security was assessed using the Waters Attachment Behavior Q‐set (AQS) completed by observers, and mothers reported on their children's temperament. Standard picture‐sociometric nominations and paired‐comparisons were used to measure children's peer acceptance. Results revealed significant associations between security and temperament. In addition, both attachment and temperament made significant and unique contributions to peer acceptance whereas temperament was found to be a stronger predictor of children's peer rejection. These findings underscore the dynamic interplay of inter‐ and intrapersonal factors that influence preschool children's peer relations. Implications of the findings for theory building and future research are discussed.

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.

Temperament, Relationships, and Young Children's Receptive Cooperation With Their Parents.

The authors studied receptive cooperation--a willing, eager stance toward parents--in 15-month-old children (N = 101) in broadly ranging contexts. Children's anger proneness and parents' responsiveness (both observed at 7 months) and children's attachment security (assessed in Strange Situation at 15 months) were examined as predictors of children's receptive cooperation at 15 months. In mother-child dyads, secure attachment was strongly associated with children's higher receptive cooperation. Maternal responsiveness in infancy also promoted children's future receptive cooperation, but its impact was moderated by child anger: Responsiveness had a positive effect for children who as infants were highly anger prone. In father-child dyads, the negative effect of anger proneness on receptive cooperation with father was significantly amplified for insecure children. Mother's responsiveness and child's secure attachment to the mother promoted child receptive cooperation with the father, but there were no similar effects for fathers.

The course of maternal depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity as predictors of attachment security at 36 months.

We examined the course of maternal depressive symptoms and children's attachment security at 36 months in a large sample of mother-child pairs from 10 sites across the country participating in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 1077). Maternal depressive symptoms predicted higher rates of insecure attachment. Women who reported intermittent symptoms across the first 36 months had preschoolers who were more likely to be classified as insecure C or D; women with chronic symptoms were more likely to have preschoolers who were classified as insecure D. Symptoms reported only during the first 15 months were not associated with elevated rates of later insecurity. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic variables, maternal sensitivity (observed at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months) did not meaningfully account for links between attachment security and patterns of depressive symptoms. However, the course and timing of maternal depressive symptoms interacted with maternal sensitivity to predict insecurity. Women with late, intermittent, or chronic symptoms who were also low in sensitivity were more likely to have preschoolers who were insecure, in contrast to symptomatic women who were high in sensitivity. These data have implications for understanding the combined impact of maternal depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity on children's socioemotional development.

Is early attachment security carried forward into relationships with preschool peers?

The association between early parent‐child attachment security and peer rejection among preschool children was examined. Children in three preschool classrooms (N = 37) participated. Mothers rated their children's attachment security at age 3 years on the Attachment Q‐Set (Waters, 1987). Sociometric ratings were collected from classmates at age 4 years through individual picture interviews. Teachers rated externalizing and internalizing behaviour exhibited at preschool. Lower attachment security was associated with greater subsequent peer rejection and higher externalizing and internalizing behaviour scores. An exploratory path model suggested that the linkage between early insecure attachment and later peer rejection may be mediated by externalizing behaviour.

Testing a maternal attachment model of behavior problems in early childhood

The purpose of the present study was to test a maternal attachment model of behavior problems in early childhood using phase I data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, a prospective study of 1,364 children from birth through sixth grade. Mothers' and caregivers' ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing problems at age three were regressed separately on a set of fifteen predictors that included security and disorganization scores from 15, 24, and 36 months using hierarchical and logistical modeling. There were three main findings. First, Q-set mother-child attachment security, based on home observations at 24 months, provided the best evidence that attachment was associated with behavior problems, especially above-average levels of problems. Second, insecurity in the 36-month modified Strange Situation predicted mothers' and caregivers' ratings of internalizing problems for boys and girls as well as their ratings of externalizing problems for boys. Third, maternal depressive symptoms predicted mothers' ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems. There are meaningful associations between attachment insecurity and behavior problems as assessed not only by mothers but also by caregivers.

Mother-Child Discourse in Two Contexts: Links With Child Temperament, Attachment Security, and Socioemotional Competence.

The goal of this study was to examine whether attachment security and child temperament predicted differences in the elaboration and emotional content of mother-child discourse in 2 contexts and whether those differences were related to a child's socioemotional development. Fifty-one preschool children and their mothers were videotaped reading a storybook and discussing the child's previous behavior. These conversations were coded for maternal elaboration and emotional content. Mothers also completed reports of child temperament, attachment security, and social behavior. Children completed measures of emotional understanding, behavioral internalization, and representations of relationships. The findings suggested that both aspects of mother-child discourse were related to attachment, temperament, and socioemotional competence, although the findings varied depending on the context of the discourse.

Improving Social Relationships in Child Care through a Researcher-Program Partnership

We describe the process of relationship-based intervention and associated changes in children and teachers' relationships and behaviors within center-based child care and examine the circumstances under which changes were most likely to occur. The relationship-based intervention had three components: research partners in each participating classroom, focus groups, and feedback sessions. Twenty-eight teachers and seventy children from 10 programs participated in the research. Approximately half of the children and one-third of the teachers were Latino, and almost half of the teachers and one-third of the children African-American. We used five distinct procedures: (1) participant observation; (2) naturalistic observations using a time sampling procedure; (3) global ratings; (4) clinical interviews and (5) case studies. There were significant main effects for change over time in children's attachment security, complexity of play with peers, and their experiences of teacher responsive involvement. Teachers with BA degrees were more engaged in the intervention than teachers with less formal education. When we held BA degrees constant, children who had teachers engaged in the intervention experienced the greatest changes in classroom climate, teacher responsivity, and in their relationships with the teacher.

Exposure to child care, parenting style and attachment security

AbstractThe present study addressed whether security of attachment is differentiated by quality of parenting and quantity of exposure to child care. Sixty mothers participated with their 14‐month‐old infants, who by the age of 12‐months had received either exclusive maternal care, or varying degrees of exposure to child care. Levels of attachment security were assessed through maternal completion of the Attachment Q‐Set(AQS); parenting quality was assessed through observations of mother–infant interactions during structured tasks. The scores that less sensitive mothers assign their toddlers is higher when their children are in child care for more hours per week; whereas the scores that more sensitive mothers assign their toddlers is lower when their children are in child care for more hours per week. These contrasting patterns suggest that the effects of parenting style on attachment security are moderated by quantity of exposure to child care. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Building New Dreams

Raising a child with a congenital anomaly or other chronic medical problem challenges families. Although most families are resilient, depending on families' relative balance of strengths and vulnerabilities, chronic child health conditions can contribute to problems with parenting and family relationships. We believe interventions can broadly promote family well-being by focusing on parental emotional, cognitive, and behavioral adaptation to their child's condition. Parents' adaptation to their child's diagnosis has been found to predict both family well-being and their child's attachment security. After reviewing these and other relevant findings on families with children with chronic medical conditions, the second half of this article describes a parent group intervention designed to promote adaptation among such families. The rationale, goals, and guidelines of this 8-session intervention are provided. Considerations and unanswered questions about implementing the intervention are also discussed.

Program practices, caregiver stability, and child–caregiver relationships

In this article, we examine program practices, caregiver behaviors, and classroom climates associated with positive child–caregiver relationships. We used the presence or absence of these practices and our independent observations of child–caregiver interactions and classroom climates to predict children's attachment security. Two hundred and fifty-six children (48% girls) from 22 programs serving underrepresented children and families in Los Angeles and rural North Carolina participated in this research. Three of the programs served only children from difficult life circumstances. Over half of the children experienced basic stability and uniform/consistent caregiving, while primary caregiver assignment and looping were rare. Programs specifically serving only children from difficult life circumstances were more likely to use relationship practices; 74% of them experienced all four practices, in programs for the other children, none of them experienced all four practices. The children from difficult life circumstances were in less acrimonious classrooms, and were more likely to be with teachers who interacted with them intensely and sensitively. Intense and sensitive interactions, and spending more time with the primary caregiver were most important in predicting child–caregiver attachment security. Secondary and negative predictors were membership in a caregiver direction cluster and being assigned to a caregiver.

Motivation, symptomatology, and functional outcome in schizophrenia: What are the links?

Maternal postnatal depression occurs following 10–15% of births and is associated with a range of negative child outcomes. Risks to children are particularly increased when postnatal depression is persistent. We aimed to examine whether a parenting video-feedback therapy (VFT) intervention versus a control treatment of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), both added to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for persistent postnatal depression, would lead to improved child outcomes at age 2 years.In this two-arm, parallel-design, individually randomised controlled trial, we recruited a community sample of women aged 18 years or older living within 50 miles of Oxford, UK, between 4·5 and 9·0 months post partum. All participants met diagnostic criteria for current major depressive disorder that had persisted for at least 3 months and had infants at 35 or more weeks of gestation, with a birthweight of 2000 g or greater, and without serious neonatal complications. Through a centralised service, women were randomly assigned by use of a minimisation algorithm, to receive either VFT or PMR, balanced for child sex, temperament, age, socioeconomic status, and severity of depression. Both groups also received CBT for depression. Primary outcomes were child cognitive development, language development, behaviour problems, and attachment security at age 2 years. There were 11 home-based treatment sessions before child age 1 year, followed by two booster sessions in the second year. Assessors were masked to treatment group allocation. All analyses were done according to the intention-to-treat principle. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN07336477.Between March 18, 2011, and Dec 9, 2013, we randomly assigned 144 women, 72 to each group. Primary outcome data were available for 62–64 (86–89%) VFT and 67–68 (93–94%) PMR participants. There were no group differences in child outcome (cognitive development, adjusted difference −1·01 [95% CI −5·11 to 3·09], p=0·63; language development, 1·33 [–4·16 to 6·82], p=0·63; behaviour problems, −1·77 [–4·39 to 0·85], p=0·19; attachment security, 0·02 [–0·06 to 0·10], p=0·58), with both groups achieving scores similar to non-clinical norms on all outcomes. There were six serious adverse events: five in the VFT group (in two participants) and one in the PMR group. None was treatment-related.The effect of persistent postnatal depression on children is a major public health issue. For both treatment groups there was sustained remission from depression, and child development outcomes were in the normal range. The precise mechanisms accounting for the observed positive child outcomes cannot be ascertained from this study.Wellcome Trust.

Parenting and attachment among toddlers with congenital anomalies: Examining the Strange Situation and attachment Q‐sort

AbstractThis study assessed parent and child predictors of attachment in a sample of 72 toddlers with neurological (e.g., cerebral palsy) and non‐neurological (e.g., cleft lip and palate) birth defects and their mothers. Parenting quality (e.g., sensitivity) was expected to be more important in predicting the attachment relationship than type and severity of child medical condition. Parenting and indices of severity of child condition were measured via researcher observation. Attachment was measured via the Strange Situation and parent reported Attachment Q‐sort. Parenting quality was better for children with more severe appearance disfigurements. Strange Situation and Q‐sort assessments of attachment were not significantly related. Children with neurological impairments were at greater risk for developing insecure attachments than were children with non‐neurological conditions. Parenting quality also directly predicted Strange Situation assessed attachment security and Q‐sort comfort seeking/exploration but not standard Q‐sort criterion scores. Parenting quality partially mediated the relation between child medical condition and attachment security. Results suggest child medical factors influence parenting, and thereby, child attachment. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Development of Empathy in Girls During the Second Year of Life: Associations with Parenting, Attachment, and Temperament

Abstract The development, antecedents, and concomitants of empathic concern in the second year of life were examined. Associations with parental sensitivity, children's fearfulness and attachment security were investigated. At 16 and at 22 months, 125 firstborn girls from middle‐class families were observed in their homes and in the laboratory. Empathic concern was assessed from the girls’ responses to simulated distress in their mothers and in an unfamiliar person. Temperamental fearfulness was observed when they were confronted with potentially scary items. Attachment security was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and parental sensitivity was measured in problem‐solving situations both at home and in the lab. From 16 to 22 months, empathic concern for the mother's distress increased, whereas empathy for the stranger decreased. A more fearful temperament and less attachment security predicted less empathic concern for the stranger's distress. Antecedent and concurrent measures of parenting showed disappointingly weak associations with empathic concern. Empathy for strangers in distress requires the regulation of negative emotions for which fearful and insecurely attached girls seem to be less well equipped.

The effect of the nurturant bonding system on child security of attachment and dependency.

This paper uses a biopsychosocial theory of human bonding to explore the intergenerational transmission of bonding traits. More specifically, it examines how the nurturant bonding system of the mother affects the succorant bonding system of the young child. In the first section of the paper, we take the bonding framework proposed by Miller and Rodgers (2001) and elaborate its implications for mother-child dyads. Next, we describe the collection of data from 78 mothers prior to their pregnancy with an index child and again when that child is between the ages of two and four and a half. These data allow the creation of a number of mother and child variables that are derived from the bonding framework. Using these variables, we construct a temporally organized, structural equation model of maternal effects on the child, with the two main outcome variables being child security of attachment and child dependency. We then test the model using LISREL. Although the results are tentative and require further confirmatory research, they lend support to three broad hypotheses derived from the bonding framework. In particular, the results support the construct of a motivational substrate that affects both maternal childbearing and her child-rearing behaviors. They also indicate the importance of child temperament in the formation of the succorant bond. Finally, they demonstrate that the preconception nurturant characteristics of the mother have multiple effects on the two main outcome variables, child security of attachment and dependency. Two submodels based on predictors of these two outcomes reveal a number of pathways along which these effects take place. We conclude with a brief discussion of the lessons learned that might strengthen future studies of mother-child bonding and, more generally, the intergenerational transmission of bonding traits.