NICHD_attachment classification and Maternal caregiving quality XXXXXXXXXXpdf
Infant–Mother Attachment Classification: Risk and Protection in Relation
to Changing Maternal Caregiving Quality
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network
The relations between early infant–mother attachment and children’s social competence and behavio
problems during the preschool and early school-age period were examined in more than 1,000 children
under conditions of decreasing, stable, and increasing maternal parenting quality. Infants’ Strange
Situation attachment classifications predicted mothers’ reports of children’s social competence and
teachers’ reports of externalizing and internalizing behaviors from preschool age through 1st grade.
These relations appeared to be mediated by parenting quality; main effects of attachment classification
disappeared when effects of parenting quality were controlled. Interactions were also observed. Fo
example, when parenting quality improved over time, teachers rated children with insecure infant–mothe
attachments lower on externalizing behaviors; when parenting quality decreased, teachers rated insecure
children higher on externalizing behaviors. In contrast, children classified as securely attached in infancy
did not appear to be affected by declining or improving parenting quality.
Keywords: early attachment security, risks and protection, behavior problems in preschoolers, maternal
sensitivity, continuity from infancy to preschool
Over the last decade, studies of the continuing effects of early
attachment under changing environmental conditions have at-
tracted increasing interest because of the central role attachment
theory plays in developmental psychopathology (Sroufe, Carlson,
Levy, & Egeland, XXXXXXXXXXAttachment theory identifies particula
developmental pathways toward psychosocial adjustment. These
pathways emerge out of early parent–caregiver relationships
(Carlson & Sroufe, 1995; Sroufe, 1990) and have their origins in
the child’s early attachment organization. A theory of process,
attachment theory posits that children’s early experiences with
their caregivers create the lenses through which children interpret
and make sense of subsequent experiences. Attachment theorists
acknowledge that change is possible at each phase of development,
ut they also assert that “change is constrained by prior adapta-
tions, and alterations in some forms of adaptation may be more
likely for certain individuals” (Carlson & Sroufe, 1995, p. 582).
In this report, we examine the continuities and discontinuities
etween patterns of infant–mother attachment and children’s so-
cial adjustment and externalizing and internalizing problems when
children transition to formal schooling. Do children’s attachment
classifications in infancy predict social competence and behavio
problems in subsequent developmental periods? If so, is this con-
tinuity mediated by continuity of parenting quality over time? Do
the effects of early attachment organizations persist if the quality
of maternal parenting changes? Are the effects of changes in caregiv-
ing conditions moderated by the child’s initial attachment organiza-
tion? Answering these questions will help researchers better under-
stand and predict the conditions under which early attachment has
long-term effects on children’s social adjustment and behavior.
Predicting Later Social Competence From Early
Attachment Classification
Attachment researchers have identified four patterns of adapta-
tion that emerge during early infant–parent relationships. In the
secure pattern of attachment (B), an infant readily separates from
an attentive, available caregiver, using the caregiver as a secure
ase for exploration (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978).
Securely attached children explore confidently in the presence of
the caregiver, express their emotions directly to others, and ac-
tively seek help from others when they are unable to help them-
selves (Sroufe, Fox, & Pancake, XXXXXXXXXXTheir openness to thei
own emotions and to the overtures of others is thought to help
them regulate their emotions and emotional responsiveness and
This study was directed by a steering committee and supported by the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
through a cooperative agreement (U10), which calls for scientific collab-
oration between the grantees and the NICHD staff. Participating investi-
gators, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows: Jay Belsky, Birkbeck
College, University of London; Cathryn L. Booth-LaForce, University of
Washington; Robert Bradley, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Celia
A. Brownell, University of Pittsburgh; Margaret Burchinal, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Susan B. Campbell, University of Pitts-
urgh; K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, University of California, Irvine; Martha
Cox, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Sarah L. Friedman,
NICHD, Bethesda, MD; Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Jean F.
Kelly, University of Washington; Bonnie Knoke, Research Triangle Insti-
tute, Research Triangle, NC; Kathleen McCartney, Harvard University;
Marion O’Brien, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Margaret Tresch
Owen, University of Texas at Dallas; Deborah Phillips, Georgetown Univer-
sity; Susan Spieker, University of Washington; Deborah Lowe Vandell, Uni-
versity of Wisconsin—Madison; and Marsha Weinraub, Temple University.
We express our appreciation to the study coordinators at each site fo
supervising data collection, the research assistants for collecting data, the
teachers and caregivers for completing forms, and the families who wel-
comed us into their homes and cooperated willingly with our repeated
equests for information.
Co
espondence concerning this article should be addressed to NICHD
Early Child Care Research Network, NICHD, 6100 Executive Boulevard,
Room 4B05, Rockville, MD 20852.
Developmental Psychology Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association
2006, Vol. 42, No. 1, 38– XXXXXXXXXX/06/$12.00 DOI: XXXXXXXXXX/ XXXXXXXXXX
38
adapt creatively and successfully to changing circumstances and
new challenges. These skills may help children with histories of
secure attachment form healthy and stable peer relationships in
preschool and early childhood (Carlson & Sroufe, 1995).
Because early caregivers have either ignored or rejected thei
signals, children with avoidant attachment histories (A) come to
see their caregivers as unavailable and unresponsive. Avoidant
infants learn to inhibit emotional signals, especially negative ones;
in time, they may inhibit emotions and avoid emotionally charged
situations. As a result, negative emotions—particularly distress
and anger—may become redirected toward inappropriate sources.
In preschool and early-childhood periods, these children may have
difficulty expressing their negative feelings toward adults and
peers adaptively. Prone to minimize their feelings, these children
may develop idealized beliefs about others, and they may have
difficulty controlling their anger. Such limitations are likely to
predispose children toward increased risk for later externalizing
and internalizing behavioral problems, and they may lead to dif-
ficulties in social situations and problems in developing friend-
ships (Carlson & Sroufe, 1995; Cassidy & Kobak, 1988; Kobak &
Sceery, 1988).
As a result of interactions with caregivers who are not consis-
tently available or responsive, infants with the anxious–resistant
pattern (C) are expected to become chronically vigilant toward
caregiver activity and may show exaggerated expressions of dis-
tress to elicit caregiver attention (Carlson & Sroufe, XXXXXXXXXXIn
preschool and early childhood, these children may be easily frus-
trated, impulsive, and overly anxious, sometimes seeing them-
selves as unworthy and helpless to cope with distress (Bowlby,
1980). Children with anxious–resistant attachments are likely to
have reduced exploration in unfamiliar settings and increased
preoccupation with personal suffering, heightened personal fears,
and elevated psychosomatic symptoms. They may be either inap-
propriately aggressive or excessively passive and prone to inter-
nalizing behavior problems (Carlson & Sroufe, 1995).
Finally, children with disorganized patterns (D) of early attach-
ment, about whom less is known, show no clear organized attach-
ment strategy in infancy and respond to their mothers in the
Strange Situation with a variety of contradictory behavior patterns,
odd or mistimed movements, or disorientation (Cassidy & Mohr,
2001). In contrast to other insecure infants, infants classified as
having disorganized attachment may be at a greater risk for psy-
chopathology in childhood (Greenberg, XXXXXXXXXXResearchers have
identified greater incidence of increased aggression, externalizing
disorders, and oppositional defiant disorder in these children
(Lyons-Ruth & Jacobvitz, 1999; van IJzendoorn, Schuengel &
Bakermans-Kranenburg, 1999).
How does the quality of early attachment relationships affect
later development? In the following sections, we examine three of
the many possible models that describe how early attachment
might affect subsequent psychological adjustment. In presenting
these extreme and somewhat simplistic models, we hope to clarify
some of the possible processes underlying the continuing effects of
early attachment.
The Extreme Early Effects Model
The simplest model of understanding the continuing effects of
early attachment might be labeled the extreme early effects model.
In this main effect model, early attachment predicts later develop-
ment regardless of later environmental change. A number of stud-
ies, particularly those from the Minnesota group of researchers
(e.g., Arend, Gove, & Sroufe, 1979; Erickson, Sroufe, & Egeland,
1985; Sroufe, Egeland, & Kreutzer, 1990; U
an, Carlson, Ege-
land, & Sroufe, 1991) as well as others (Barglow, Contreras,
Kavesh, & Vaughn, 1998; Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy,
1990; Cassidy, 1988; Greenberg, Speltz, DeKlyen, & Endriga,
1991; Lütkenhaus, Grossman, & Grossman, 1985; Shaw & Von-
dra, 1995) have demonstrated continuity from infant attachment to
later play activity, emotional regulation, and peer relations in
preschool, middle childhood, and even adolescence. A meta-
analysis of 63 studies examining relations between child–parent
attachment and children’s peer relations produced an effect size in
the small-to-moderate range (Schneider, Atkinson, & Tardif,
2000).
More recent studies have also illustrated this continuity. Study-
ing 3-year-old children, McElwain, Cox, Burchinal, and Macfie
(2003) reported that a history of avoidant attachment was related to
instrumental aggression during child–friend interactions; a history
of anxious–resistant attachment was related to less self-assertion
among friends. Following a sample of children of adolescent
mothers from 12 months to 9 years of age, Munson, McMahon,
and Spieker XXXXXXXXXXfound that children with histories of eithe
avoidant or disorganized attachments showed higher levels of
externalizing problems at age 9 compared with children with
secure attachment histories. Lyons-Ruth, Easte
ooks, and Cibelli
(1997) found that infants with either avoidant or disorganized
histories were rated high on both internalizing and externalizing
symptoms at age 7 compared with children with secure attachment
histories. Some evidence suggests that greater risks to adaptation
are incu
ed by children with insecure–disorganized attachment
than by children with avoidant or anxious–resistant attachments
(Carlson, 1998; Lyons-Ruth, Alpern, & Repacholi, 1993; Shaw,
Owens, Vondra, & Keenan, 1996).
Nevertheless, relations across time are not always strong and are
not routinely documented, particularly in the normal range of
ehaviors (Belsky & Fearon, 2002a; Erickson, Sroufe, & Egeland,
1985; Lewis, Feiring, & Rosenthal, XXXXXXXXXXLewis, Feiring, McGuf-
fog, & Jaskir XXXXXXXXXXshowed that early attachment insecurity
predicted problem behaviors in first grade for boys only; Suess,
Grossman, and Sroufe XXXXXXXXXXfound that attachment predicted
5-year-old outcomes only for girls and only for children with early
avoidant attachment. Attachment theorists and researchers ac-
knowledge that not all infants who are insecurely attached develop
problems later and that when they do, these relations appear to be
associated with environmental continuity (Carlson & Sroufe,
1995). Indeed, many of the studies that have shown meaningful
associations between early infant–mother attachment security and
later social outcomes have come from researchers studying low-
income, high-risk families