Taxometric Analysis of Secure Base Script Knowledge during the Transition from Middle Childhood to Adolescence.

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Increasing research shows that attachment representations consist, at least in part, of a cognitive script about seeking and receiving sensitive and responsive care from attachment figures (i.e., the secure base script). Waters et al. (2019) proposed that similar to other scripts, secure base scripts might emerge in a holistic but unelaborated form and subsequently undergo a process of elaboration (e.g. Schank & Abelson, 1977; Schank 1982; 1999). Earlier in development, secure base scripts are expected to develop in an all-or-nothing fashion with individual differences reflecting categorical differences. Later in development, when secure base scripts become elaborated with increasing relational experiences, individual differences are expected to reflect dimensional differences. In support of this theory, taxometric investigations suggest that secure base scripts are categorically distributed in middle childhood (Waters et al., 2019) but dimensionally distributed in late adolescence and adulthood (Waters et al., 2015). Although these findings suggest developmental discontinuity consistent with the developmental model proposed by Waters et al. (2019), the cross-sectional nature of this research limits inferences about developmental change. We conducted a longitudinal taxometric investigation to test the developmental model proposed by Waters et al. (2019). Based on previous findings suggesting developmental discontinuity from middle childhood to late adolescence, we predicted that distribution of secure base scripts will shift from categorical to dimensional during the transition from middle childhood into adolescence. We tested this hypothesis using a three-wave, three year longitudinal data from 599 participants (M_age Wave 1 = 10.28; SD_age Wave 1 = 0.58). Participants were administered the Middle Childhood Attachment Script Assessment (Waters, Bosmans, et al., 2015), a narrative based task designed to tap into implicit knowledge of the secure base script. We examined the latent structure at each wave using multiple taxometric procedures (MAXCOV-HITMAX, MAMBAC, and L-Mode). Taxometric results were evaluated using graphical output and mean Comparative Curve Fit Indices (CCFI’s) across procedures. CCFI values range from 0 to 1, with values from 0 to .44 supporting a dimensional latent structure, and values from .56 to 1 supporting a categorical structure. CCFI values from .45 to .55 are considered as ambiguous and suggest that it is unclear whether the structure is categorical or dimensional. In line with our hypothesis, secure base scripts shifted from categorical to dimensional during the transition from middle childhood into adolescence (Mean CCFI Wave 1 = .60; Mean CCFI Wave 2 = .52; Mean CCFI Wave 3 = .43). The current study is the first longitudinal investigation of latent structure of attachment representations. Our findings provide insight in how secure base scripts are constructed and evolve during development.

Authors

• Melisse Houbrechts, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
  Presenting Author

• Theodore Waters, New York University Abu Dhabi
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher Facompre, Stony Brook Unviersity
  Non-Presenting Author

• Guy Bosmans, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
  Non-Presenting Author