BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Early Mother-child and Father-child Attachment Relationships: Contributes to Preschoolers’ Self-Regulation Competencies

Fri, March 22, 3:00 to 4:30pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 341

Integrative Statement

Early experiences in life are thought to shape and guide self-regulation processes during childhood (e.g., Birmingham, Bub, & Vaughn, 2017; Goldberg, 2000). At this level, attachment theory provides a conceptual framework for understanding the ways in which parent-child relationship may influence children’s self-regulation, playing special emphasis on the child’s use of the parent as a secure base from which to explore the environment (Bowlby, 1988). Empirical work supports these theoretical assumption providing evidence suggesting that securely attached children are in advantage in terms of the development of self-regulation, defined and assessed in several ways (e.g., Birmingham, Bub, & Vaughn, 2017; Calkins & Leerkes, 2004; Drake, Belsky, & Fearon, 2013; Fearon & Belsky, 2004; Kochanska, Philibert, & Barry, 2009; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2010; Viddal, Berg-Nielsen, Wan, Green, Hygen, & Wichstrøm, 2015). Although a substantial body of studies have been supporting the assumption that attachment security fosters a more effective social functioning with peers, the majority had only focused in mother-child attachment relationship. A more complete characterization of adult influences on child growth and development with respect to attachment and developmental outcomes must include both parents. Thus, our main goal is to analyze contributions of early mother-child and father-child attachment relationships to children’s later self-regulation outcomes (namely, emotion regulation and autonomy) in preschool groups.
Fifty middle class families were recruited. Attachment was assessed at home using the Attachment Behavior Q-set (AQS, Waters, 1995, v. 3.0) when children were about 3 years of age. Mother–child and father–child dyads were observed during separated visits by two distinct teams each one with two independent observers. Self-regulation data was collected in preschool classrooms two years after, by a team of two distinct independent observers. The California Child Q-Sort (CCQ; Block & Block, 1969) was used to assess two important dimensions of preschoolers’ self-regulation: Emotion Regulation and Autonomy.
Preliminary results indicate that preschoolers' emotional regulation and autonomy is predicted by early attachment security (R2Emotional Regulation=.20; R2Autonomy=.22) to mother (Emotional Regulation: β=2.49, p=.006; Autonomy: β=1.74; p=.04) and father (Emotional Regulation: β=2.42, p=.004; Autonomy: β=2.03, p=.01). Additionally, the interaction term between attachment security to mother and attachment security to father is also a significant predictor of children’s Emotional Regulation (β=-5.12, p=005) and Autonomy (β=-3.31, p=.04). Particularly, this interaction effects are significant only for the group of children with security scores to one parent below the mean. For these children in particular, attachment security to the other parental figure seems to potentiate self-regulation scores.
Overall, results are consistent with previous research suggesting that attachment security fosters self-regulation competencies, with securely attached children being more likely to demonstrate more competent emotional-regulatory skills (e.g., lability, flexibility, situational responsivity, and modulation of one’s emotional arousal) and also to be observed as displaying autonomous behaviors (e.g., initiative, agency, choice, and self-determination) in the classroom. Importantly, findings also suggest that a secure attachment relationship can buffer the impact of having an insecure relationship with one of the parents, with respect to self-regulation outcomes in early childhood (e.g., Yates, Egeland, & Sroufe, 2003).

Authors