Attachment & Human Development最新文献

Despite advances in the measurement of parent-child attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence, most studies relied on a single measure to assess attachment and few studies tested the core assumption that parenting and parents' own attachment models are key factors associated with parent-child attachment security. We aimed to: (a) evaluate a multi-method approach to assessing attachment that included the Middle Childhood Attachment Coding System (MCAS), a behavioral measure of parent-child attachment; and (b) test a model linking parenting, parent attachment, and attachment security. Participants included 179 mother-child dyads with children aged 9-14 years. MCAS patterns showed some associations with a questionnaire measure of attachment security, but they were unrelated to narrative coherence on an autobiographical interview. MCAS patterns, reported attachment security, and narrative coherence showed some associations with maternal sensitivity and autonomy support. MCAS security was associated with maternal secure base scripts. A model assessing how parenting and maternal attachment scripts relate to a latent construct of security composed of narrative coherence, children's perceptions of security, and observed MCAS security fits the data well. Findings provide support for the use of multiple measurement approaches when disentangling associations of parent-child attachment and broadening the research focus on attachment and parenting.

Attachment theory has demonstrated the longitudinal impact that aspects of the parent-child dyad have on youth's social-emotional development. Yet, little to no work has investigated whether parents' attachment, including parental secure base script (SBS) knowledge and parental attachment styles, are associated with youth's social-emotional functioning or examined mechanisms by which parents' attachment leads to social-emotional functioning. Even less research has examined the role of parents' attachment in parent-child dyads with youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; further identified as autistic youth) and its impact on their subsequent social-emotional development. Thus, the current pre-registered study assessed whether parents' attachment was associated with children's maladaptive (internalizing/externalizing symptoms) and adaptive (social competence) social-emotional functioning via parenting quality (authoritative parenting) in 108 nonautistic parent-child dyads and 49 autistic parent-child dyads. Separate structural equation models were run by group. Higher levels of parents' SBS knowledge predicted social competence in autistic parent-child dyads. Additionally, higher levels of parents' attachment-related anxiety predicted lower levels of social competence in autistic parent-child dyads. Attachment-related avoidance predicted lower levels of social competence in nonautistic parent-child dyads and higher levels of externalizing symptoms in autistic parent-child dyads. Results suggest parents' attachment representations may have unique contributions to youth's social-emotional functioning.

This study examined how children's secure base script knowledge and friendship quality were related to bullying and victimization experiences and their emotional, academic, and behavioral adjustment. Participants were 581 children (49.6% males) aged 9 to 13 years old and one of their main caregivers (74% mothers, 23.6% fathers, 2.4% legal guardians) recruited through cluster sampling in Singapore. Most of the children were ethnic Chinese (58.2%), along with Malays, Indians, and Others (e.g. Eurasians). Children's secure base script knowledge was related to less bullying and victimization, which in turn was related to greater positive emotional state, better academic achievement, less aggression, and fewer social problems. Friendship quality did not add unique variance, highlighting the central protective role of attachment representation in the context of school bullying. The findings provide support for the security-competence link in an Asian context, and point to the importance of enhancing children's familial experiences as part of preventive efforts in combating school bullying.

We explored the relationship between cultural values, recollected early caregiving experiences and young adult attachment preference. Young adults in Egypt (N = 209) and the United States (N = 554) ranked their current attachment preference, rated their collectivist and individualist beliefs, and recalled the relative contributions of their early caregivers. Egyptian students scored higher than US students on collectivism and recalled more involvement from non-parental caregivers. Most participants reported a preference hierarchy (82% Egypt & 84% US). Surprisingly, individualism was negatively associated with maternal attachment ratings and with having a clear principal attachment relationship, whereas higher collectivism predicted higher maternal attachment. Findings suggest that attachment hierarchies are normative across varying cultural and child-rearing contexts.

Given the dearth of literature on attachment theory in the Arab world, this study explores the cross-cultural validity of attachment theory within an Egyptian sample of 60 mother-child dyads through the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). The study examines the applicability of attachment theory's universality, normativity, and secure base hypotheses, as well as the prevalence and manifestations of insecurity in an Egyptian sample. The findings supported attachment theory's universality, normativity and secure base hypotheses, while simultaneously pointing towards cultural variations in attachment manifestations. Specifically, this study found that all children were classifiable according to the ABC classification system, and that secure attachment was the most prevalent within the sample. Additionally, trends of exploration and crying highly aligned with Ainsworth's findings in the Baltimore study, supporting the secure base phenomenon within this Egyptian sample. Nevertheless, resistant attachment was more common than avoidant attachment, which differs from the global prevalence. Resistant attachment also primarily took the form of inconsolability rather than anger.

Research on infant carrying/babywearing is limited but suggests that frequent close physical contact increases maternal sensitivity and responsiveness. It is unknown whether infant carrying promotes parental reflective functioning (PRF). In this prospective investigation, adolescent mothers (N=75; M_age=19.45; 57.4% non-white) in a multi-wave infant carrying intervention trial were followed from early postpartum to preschool to assess long-term impacts of infant carrying on the development of PRF. Participation in the infant carrying intervention (β=0.33, p=0.03) and maternal representation of infant carrying as supporting infant wellbeing (β=0.36, p<0.01) predicted higher PRF when children were 3.5 years old. There was a significant indirect effect from maternal representation of infant carrying as a bonding tool to enhanced PRF during the preschool period via maternal attunement at seven months (β=0.26, p=0.04). Participating in an infant carrying intervention and child-focused representations of infant carrying may support mentalizing among adolescent mothers via distinct direct and indirect pathways.