Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issues.

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, evidence-based direction, especially with regard to child protection and child custody decision-making. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, we address problems related to the use of attachment theory and research in family courts, and discuss reasons for these problems. To this end, we examine family court applications of attachment theory in the current context of the best-interest-of-the-child standard, discuss misunderstandings regarding attachment theory, and identify factors that have hindered accurate implementation. In the second part, we provide recommendations for the application of attachment theory and research. To this end, we set out three attachment principles: the child's need for familiar, non-abusive caregivers; the value of continuity of good-enough care; and the benefits of networks of attachment relationships. We also discuss the suitability of assessments of attachment quality and caregiving behaviour to inform family court decision-making. We conclude that assessments of caregiver behaviour should take center stage. Although there is dissensus among us regarding the use of assessments of attachment quality to inform child custody and child-protection decisions, such assessments are currently most suitable for targeting and directing supportive interventions. Finally, we provide directions to guide future interdisciplinary research collaboration.

Construct-Specific and Timing-Specific Aspects of the Home Environment for Children's School Readiness.

Prior evidence supports that the home environment is related to children's development of school readiness skills. However, it remains unclear how construct- and timing-specific aspects of the home environment are related to children's school readiness skills, unique from overall, stable aspects of home quality. Unpacking associations due to specific constructs and timing of the home environment may provide insights on the theoretical processes that connect the home environment to school readiness. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364), the current study examines how timing (36 and 54 months) and constructs (educational stimulation and socio-emotional responsivity) of the home environment, relative to overall levels across time, relate to children's language skills, math skills, and externalizing behaviors. The overall, stable aspects of the home environment were significantly associated with children's language skills and externalizing problems. Additionally, there were significant paths from the stimulation construct at 54 months to math skills, language skills, and externalizing problems. These findings provide evidence that although the overall home environment is predictive of school readiness, the stimulation construct of the home environment at 54 months has additional concurrent relations to children's school readiness. Implications for the role of the home environment and children's school readiness are discussed.

Scripted knowledge about attachment and social competence in preschoolers: overview.

The papers in this special issue of Attachment & Human Development address questions concerning relations between attachment representations and social competence during early childhood in samples from five different countries. All studies examined these questions using the concept of the "secure base script" that has been widely studied in samples of adults, adolescents, and school-age children. In all samples, the secure base script was scored from attachment-relevant narratives elicited from children in a doll-play task. Consistent with existing literatures, the secure base script score had positive and significant associations with adult ratings of child social competence, even in the presence of potential confounding covariates.

Secure base scripted knowledge and preschoolers' social competence in samples from Mexico and Peru.

A central hypothesis in attachment theory poses that child-mother relationships have implications for children's social competence. A key task for researchers is that of investigating the pathways responsible for the association found between child attachment security and social competence. We studied whether children's secure base representations, defined as scripts, are associated with assessments of social competence in a preschool setting. We tested this association in samples from Mexico and Peru. Preschoolers' attachment representations were assessed via narratives gathered with the Attachment Story Completion Task. Teachers (in Mexico) and mothers (in Peru) provided questionnaire information about social competence. Attachment scripts predicted children's social competence in both samples. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and research.

Assessing and quantifying the secure base script from narratives produced by preschool age children: justification and validation tests.

Building on aframework presented by Bretherton and associates, Waters and associates argued that interaction sequences relevant to children's access to and use of asecure base for exploration during infancy/toddlerhood become internalized as script-like representations. For adults, these scripted representations are readily assessed using word-prompt lists d to elicit attachment relevant narratives. However, this method is not appropriate during early childhood. Waters and associates used stories from Bretherton's Attachment Story Completion Task for this purpose. However, the method they used to score secure base script use is not efficient for larger samples (e.g. over 50), and new approaches for scoring have been designed. We describe two approaches to story selection and scoring for access to and use of the secure base script. The two scoring methods show substantial and significant overlap and also have significant associations with other methods of measuring attachment security during early childhood.

Preschoolers' secure base script representations predict teachers' ratings of social competence in two independent samples.

Associations between attachment security, assessed as a secure base script (SBS), and teachers' social competence ratings were examined in two samples (one from the Midwest region and the other from the Southern region of the United States). Consistent with previous reports, significant associations between domains were obtained in both samples and after combining the two samples, r = .33, p < .001. The associations remained significant when child sex, age, and verbal intelligence were controlled. Findings are discussed with reference to relations between SBS scores and the covariates. Regarding sex differences, an existing literature suggests that girls, compared with boys, may be advantaged with respect to skills that could support higher scores on the task used to assess secure base scripts. In both samples, teachers rated girls as somewhat higher on scales of social competence and controlling for sex reduced the magnitude of associations between SBS and social competence, but the results remained significant in all tests.

III. THE ORGANIZATION OF ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOR IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: LINKS WITH MATERNAL SENSITIVITY AND CHILD ATTACHMENT REPRESENTATIONS.

This article investigated two central questions about mother-child attachment relationships during early childhood: (1) the association between maternal sensitivity and child attachment behavior (Study 1) and (2) the link between child attachment behavior and representations (Study 2). In Study 1, maternal sensitivity and child security were assessed in naturalistic contexts among 74 middle-class dyads, when children were about 3.5 and again 5.5 years of age, using the Maternal Behavior with Preschoolers Q-set (MBPQS) and the Attachment Q-set (AQS), respectively. Sensitivity and security were significantly related at each point in time and stable from 3.5 to 5.5 years of age. Furthermore, changes in sensitivity predicted changes in child security. In Study 2, the relationship between the organization of preschoolers' attachment behavior and the structure of attachment representations (secure base script knowledge) was assessed. Participants were 158 preschoolers between 3 and 5.5 years. Children's secure base behavior was described with the AQS, whereas their attachment script knowledge was assessed with the MacArthur Attachment Story Completion Task. The organization of children's secure base behavior was significantly, if modestly, associated with their knowledge of the secure base script.

V. MATERNAL SENSITIVITY AND CO-CONSTRUCTION SKILLS: CONCURRENT AND LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS WITH PRESCHOOLERS' SECURE BASE BEHAVIOR.

This study investigated the associations among maternal sensitivity, maternal secure base script co-construction skills, and children's secure base behavior during early childhood. Maternal sensitivity and children's secure base behavior were assessed in naturalistic settings among 81 mother-child dyads when the children were approximately 3.5 years old. Maternal co-construction skills were also assessed at that age via a joint mother-child storytelling task. Maternal sensitivity and secure base behavior were assessed again when children (N = 74) were about 5.5 years old. Results indicated that mother sensitivity assessed at the early age was significantly related to maternal co-construction skills. Maternal co-constructive skills in turn were also significantly associated with children's secure base behavior both concurrently and longitudinally. Finally, regression analyses indicated both maternal sensitivity, concurrently at each point in time, and co-construction skills contributed unique and significant information to the prediction of child secure base behavior.

II. MEASURES: SECURE BASE BEHAVIOR, CO-CONSTRUCTION, AND ATTACHMENT SCRIPTS.

In order to examine the interplay between behavioral and cognitive representations of attachment during early childhood, we compiled both behavior-based and more cognitive-based attachment measures for this age range. The behavior-based measures were observational Q-set methodologies already established in the literature. Measures of attachment representations for the children and mothers were narrative-based procedures, that is, established storytelling tasks for obtaining attachment narratives from children and adults. For assessing maternal co-construction processes, we developed two new co-construction tasks that required joint storytelling of attachment relevant storylines in one case, and joint conversations about emotion-laden situations in the other. All of these measures are based on the central secure base construct of attachment theory. Behavioral measures assess secure base use and support. Attachment narratives collected from both children and parents are scored for secure base script knowledge. Maternal co-construction is assessed in terms of cognitive processes that enhance and promote attachment script knowledge.

VIII. CONCLUSION: CO-CONSTRUCTING A SECURE BASE PARTNERSHIP: MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTIONS, COMMUNICATION, AND SCRIPT REPRESENTATIONS.

Using the secure base construct, the evidence presented indicates that interactional experience continues to be a central factor in the organization of mother-child attachment relationships. The parent-child codetermination process that establishes their relationship in infancy expands during the preschool years. Furthermore, with the increasingly relevant role of language, parent-child verbal communication during this time plays an important part in structuring children's attachment behavior and knowledge. Parents help their children construe attachment-related information, control and regulate emotional experience, and guide behavior during attachment-related experiences. That is, during early childhood, parent and child continue the process of constructing a secure base partnership through their gradually more complex interactions that take advantage of children's behavioral, emotional, representational, and language advances. Although the studies are interrelated and contribute to a coherent understanding of attachment relationships during this time period, they represent small-scale studies. Further, some of the effect sizes presented are small. Thus, future research should include tests of replication as well as explorations of links to early and later development and parallel findings in more diverse samples.

I. INTRODUCTION: THE CO-CONSTRUCTION OF MOTHER-CHILD ATTACHMENT RELATIONSHIPS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

Attachment relationships are formed, organized, and elaborated through interactions between an attachment figure and her/his child. The parent-child codetermination process that establishes their relationship in infancy extends and expands during the preschool years. A child's developing ability to use her/his mother as a secure base requires support, time, and practice during early childhood. Moreover, experiences with attachment figures provide information that children use to build internal representations of their relationship. Thus, the organization of attachment behavior is expected to be related to the structure of a child's attachment representations. Yet, questions about how the structure of those representations develop remain unanswered. In moving into the preschool years, we anticipate that building of mental representations of secure base support and use will be guided by parent-child co-construction processes. The child's improving language and advancing information processing skills increase the opportunities for verbally based interactions between caregiver and child. The mother-child co-construction process of secure base relationships includes now a verbal-representational component, but the nonverbal, behavioral building blocks remain in play as well.

The impact of marital withdrawal and secure base script knowledge on mothers' and fathers' parenting.

The current study examines associations between marital conflict and negative parenting behaviors among fathers and mothers, and the extent to which internal working models (IWMs) of attachment relationships may serve as sources of risk or resilience during family interactions. The sample consisted of 115 families (mothers, fathers, and their 6-month-old infants) who participated in a controlled experiment. Couples were randomly assigned to engage in either a conflict or positive marital discussion, followed by parent-infant freeplay sessions and assessment of parental IWMs of attachment (i.e., secure base script knowledge). While no differences in parenting behaviors emerged between the conflict and positive groups, findings revealed that couple withdrawal during the marital discussion was related to more intrusive and emotionally disengaged parenting for mothers and fathers. Interestingly, secure base script knowledge was inversely related to intrusion and emotional disengagement for fathers, but not for mothers. Furthermore, only among fathers did secure base script knowledge serve to significantly buffer the impact of marital disengagement on negative parenting (emotional disengagement). Findings are discussed using a family systems framework and expand our understanding of families, and family members, at risk. (PsycINFO Database Record

Maternal Sensitivity and Child Secure Base Use in Early Childhood: Studies in Different Cultural Contexts.

This study tested whether maternal sensitivity and child security are related during early childhood and whether such an association is found in different cultural and social contexts. Mother-child dyads (N = 237) from four different countries (Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States) were observed in naturalistic settings when children were between 36 and 72 months of age. Maternal and child behavior during interactions at home and in the playground were described using Q methodology. Findings reveal that across cultures, concurrent maternal sensitivity and more specific behavioral domains of maternal care (e.g., contributions to harmonious interactions and secure base support) are important for children's attachment security during early childhood. Implications for the study of attachment relationships beyond infancy and in diverse contexts are highlighted.

MBQS: Método de evaluación para intervenciones en apego dirigidas a primera infancia / MBQS: Evaluation method for attachment-based interventions in early childhood

Presentamos la necesidad de dirigir intervenciones a sujetos cuidadores de menores de edades entre 0 y 6 años, ya que la literatura indica que la habilidad de las personas adultas para ofrecer una respuesta sensible es una poderosa variable para determinar la seguridad emocional del niño o niña. Las intervenciones basadas en la Teoría del Apego deben ser construidas con base en criterios científicos para su replicabilidad. El objetivo del presente trabajo es proponer la evaluación de la sensibilidad del sujeto cuidador con el método Q para la puntuación del comportamiento materno (MBQS), de manera previa y posterior a la intervención para sustentar su efectividad. El MBQS evalúa naturalísticamente al cuidador o cuidadora y a la calidad de la interacción, por lo cual resulta una herramienta válida y confiable para valorar las intervenciones dirigidas a las personas cuidadoras de la primera infancia...

Aproximación Psicométrica al Uso de los Q-Sorts en Contextos de Educación Inicial / Psychometric Evaluation of the Q-Sorts in Initial Education Contexts

La sensibilidad del cuidador se refiere a la pronta y adecuada lectura, interpretación y respuesta a las señales del infante que promueve la construcción de vínculos de apego. La crianza actual incluye, además de la díada mamá-infante, a cuidadores secundarios profesionales (CSP) en centros de educación inicial (CEI). El AQS (Waters, 1995) evalúa las conductas de base segura que el infante despliega con su cuidador; el MBQS (Pederson & Moran, 1995) la sensibilidad del adulto. Se observaron 34 diadas CSP-infante en CEI de prestación indirecta del IMSS con el apoyo del AQS y el MBQS para explorar la configuración factorial de los constructos planteados por la teoría del apego para cuidadores primarios -sensibilidad y conductas de base segura- (Bowlby 1969, 1973; Ainsworth & Wittig, 1969; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall, 1978) con CSP en CEI. Se identificó que el Q-Sort del apego adaptado (QSA) explica un 52.99% de la varianza (α=.69) y se diferencia del AQS en la Inconsistencia en el vínculo con la CSP. Para la sensibilidad, el QSCCSP (Q-Sort del Comportamiento del CSP) explicó el 45.35% de la varianza (α=.91) reduciendo el número de factores del MBQS y disminuyendo la especificidad de los mismos.

As more women enter the workforce either as half or full time, it is now the norm in many societies for children to be placed in childcare before their first birthday. Because most of these children spend at least eight hours in childcare, we need to assess the quality of the service supplied by professional secondary caregivers (PSC). Maternal sensitivity is defined as mother's ability to perceive and respond promptly and accurately to the child's signals (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall, 1978). The AQS (Waters, 1995) consists of 90 items describing attachment relevant infant behavior; the MBQS (Pederson & Moran, 1995) consists of 90 items describing maternal behavior. 34 child-PSC dyads were assessed in Mexican Social Security Child Care centers with the AQS and MBQS, to explore the factorial structure of sensitivity and secure base behaviors in Child Care facilities. The Child Care-adapted version of the AQS explains 52.99% of the variance (α=.69) and underlines the inconsistency of the relationship. The Professional Secondary Caregiver Q-Sort (PSCQS) explains the 45.35% of the variance (α=.91) with few and less specific factors than those previously reported in the MBSQ.

Piecing together the sensitivity construct: ethology and cross-cultural research.

Although Ainsworth and Bowlby's perspective on attachment relationships has instinctive underpinnings, they also recognized variability in the ways caregiving is implemented in different ecologies. Ainsworth's naturalistic observations in two different societies provided early evidence about the development of infant-mother attachment, differences in the quality of attachment relationships, and the role of maternal care in attachment development. Further, her research demonstrated the importance of an ethological approach for research within and across cultures. Employing similar concepts and methods, my collaborators and I have tested and expanded Bowlby's and Ainsworth's ideas about the generality of the sensitivity construct and sensitivity-security link. In our research, ethological observations have been key to elaborating the quality of care construct and studying child-mother attachment relationships in different cultures, social contexts, and ages.

Intimate Relationship Aggression in College Couples: Family-of-Origin Violence, Egalitarian Attitude, Attachment Security.

Dating violence among college aged couples has become a growing concern with increasing prevalence. The current study investigated the interplay among witnessing violence during childhood (both parental conflict and parent to child aggression), attachment insecurity, egalitarian attitude within the relationship, and dating aggression. Participants of this study included 87 couples. Results from the structural equation model indicated that the proposed model provided a good fit to the with a χ2 to df ratio of 1.84. In particular, both female and male participants who reported higher levels of attachment insecurity were more likely to be victim of dating aggression in their relationships. Furthermore, female participants who reported having witnessed parental conflict were more likely to be victimized by their partners. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of intimate relationship violence with dyadic data showing, for both genders, attachment insecurity is a crucial factor in both victimization and perpetration of aggression.

Is the secure base phenomenon evident here, there, and anywhere? A cross-cultural study of child behavior and experts' definitions.

The evolutionary rationale offered by Bowlby implies that secure base relationships are common in child-caregiver dyads and thus, child secure behavior observable across diverse social contexts and cultures. This study offers a test of the universality hypothesis. Trained observers in nine countries used the Attachment Q-set to describe the organization of children's behavior in naturalistic settings. Children (N = 547) were 10-72 months old. Child development experts (N = 81) from all countries provided definitions of optimal child secure base use. Findings indicate that children from all countries use their mother as a secure base. Children's organization of secure base behavior was modestly related to each other both within and across countries. Experts' descriptions of the optimally attached child were highly similar across cultures.

Infant Nutrition and 12 and 18 Months Secure Base Behavior: An Exploratory Study.

A notable omission in studies of developmental links to early nutritional deficiencies is infant attachment. In those few studies investigating associations between infant nutrition and attachment, nutrition was defined solely by physical growth, and infants had moderate-severe growth retardation. In this study, we utilized multiple markers of infant nutrition. Our sample consisted of 172 12-month-old Peruvian infants and their mothers from low-income families, with a follow-up assessment on 77 infants at 18 months. Infants were not severely malnourished, but did have micronutrient deficiencies. Anthropometry, dietary intake, and iron status were used as measures of infant nutrition. Based on infant behavior in a structured laboratory situation, Q-sort techniques were used to rate three attachment markers: infant secure base behavior, interaction quality, and negative emotionality with mother. At 12 months, infant weight was positively related to interaction quality. At 18 months, infant iron status was positively related to secure base behavior. This pattern of findings remained even after statistically controlling for family socioeconomic status and maternal education. Our findings indicate that infant nutritional status is associated with markers of infant attachment and these associations are not restricted just to severely malnourished infants.

Calidad de cuidado materno: una comparación entre bebés prematuros en cuidado madre canguro y bebés a término en cuidado regular / Quality of maternal care: a comparison of preterm infants in Kangaroo mother care and full- term infants in regular care

El propósito de esta investigación fue estudiar los efectos de la intervención del Cuidado Madre Canguro (CMC) en la sensibilidad materna, en una uestra de madres adolescentes con alto riesgo psicosocial. Se compararon dos grupos de díadas: madres adolescentes con bebés prematuros en cuidado madre canguro, y madres adolescentes con bebés a término en cuidado regular. Se realizaron observaciones en el medio familiar, para evaluar la calidad del cuidado materno. Los análisis indican que no existen diferencias significativas entre los dos grupos de madres adolescentes respecto a la calidad de cuidado materno. Este hallazgo permite suponer un efecto protector por parte del CMC en las díadas madres adolescente-bebé prematuros, ya que esta condición del bebé es un factor de riesgo adicional a las condiciones del grupo a término en cuidado regular. Estos resultados preliminares plantean la necesidad de continuar explorando los efectos de la intervención canguro en la sensibilidad materna, especialmente en poblaciones vulnerables...

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential impact of an intervention program (Kangaroo Mother Care, KMC) on maternal sensitivity in a sample of high-risk adolescent mothers. Two mother-infant groups were compared: adolescent mothers with their preterm baby in kangaroo care and adolescent mothers with their full-term baby in regular care. Naturalistic observations at the home environment were conducted to assess maternal quality of care. No significant differences were found between both groups of dyads. Results are in line with the notion that KMC seems to play a protective role for adolescent mothers and their premature babies, given the additional risk factor of prematurity when compared to the full term group. These preliminary findings are stimulating and support further inquiry into the effects of KMC on maternal sensitivity particularly in high-risk populations....