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Observational Study
. 2016;18(2):115-40.
doi: 10.1080/14616734.2015.1120334. Epub 2015 Dec 16.

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

Lea J Boldt  1 , Grazyna Kochanska  1 , Rebecca Grekin  1 , Rebecca L Brock  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

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

Lea J Boldt et al. Attach Hum Dev. 2016.

Abstract

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

Keywords: Attachment; child adaptive outcomes; child maladaptive outcomes; middle childhood; parenting.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model examining mother responsive care from 7 to 80 months as predictor of mother-child attachment organization. Standardized coefficients are reported. Significant paths are represented by solid lines and non-significant paths are represented by dashed lines. Gender is covaried.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Model examining father responsive care from 7 to 80 months as predictor of father-child attachment organization. Standardized coefficients are reported. Significant paths are represented by solid lines and non-significant paths are represented by dashed lines. Gender is covaried.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Model examining mother responsive care at three developmental periods (First 2 years, Toddler to Preschool Age, Early School Age) as predictor of mother-child attachment organization. Standardized coefficients are reported. Significant paths are represented by solid lines and non-significant paths are represented by dashed lines. Gender is covaried.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Model examining father responsive care at three developmental periods (First 2 years, Toddler to Preschool Age, Early School Age) as predictor of father-child attachment organization. Standardized coefficients are reported. Significant paths are represented by solid lines and non-significant paths are represented by dashed lines. Gender is covaried.
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