Comparing Father-Child and Mother-Child Attachment Relationships and its Links to Children’s Social-Emotional Development

• In Event: 2-190 - The Role of the Father: Links Between Parent-Child Interactions and Children’s Social-Emotional Development

Integrative Statement

Introduction
A secure parent-child attachment relationship contributes to children’s social-emotional development (Sroufe, 2005). According to Bowlby (1979), attachment relationships with parents provide children a secure base to explore and offers them a safe haven to return to in times of distress. Recent research suggests that mothers and fathers may have different but complementary attachment roles: mothers mainly provide a secure base for children, whereas fathers are supposed to facilitate children’s exploration behavior (Dumont & Paquette, 2013; Grossman et al., 2002; Paquette, 2014). However, the vast majority of parental attachment studies have focused on either mothers or fathers. To test whether fathers truly have a unique attachment role and a unique impact on children’s development, it is pivotal to take into account both fathers and mothers of the same family (Cabrera et al., 2014). In addition, for a comprehensive understanding of the (differential) attachment roles that fathers (and mothers) may take upon themselves, it is highly important to include families that cover the full continuum from low to high social economic status. Only then do we know whether the effects hold true across all social strata.
The main aim of the present study is to compare father-child and mother-child attachment relationships. Secondly, we will examine the associations between maternal and paternal quality of attachment and children’s social-emotional development. Lastly, we will explore to what extent these associations differ by family SES.
Methods
This study uses data from an ongoing research project investigating the role of fathers and mothers in young children’s development. A total of 100 families from the Netherlands will be recruited: 50 families with a relative high SES and 50 families with a relative low SES. In all families, both fathers and mothers have participated. All children are 3 years old.
All families were visited at home by two trained observers. During these visits, fathers and mothers were each observed separately (by different independent observers) with their child for a total of 1.5 hours. During the first 30 minutes, fathers and mothers were asked to fill in an online questionnaire (while the child was present). Next, fathers and mothers were video-taped during several play situations with their child (free play with and without toys, building blocks, etch-a-sketch, and physical play (horse-riding and sock wrestle)). Quality of attachment was assessed by trained observers using the Attachment Behavior Q-Set (AQS; Waters, 1995). Parents and child care caregivers rated children’s social-emotional development using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 2005).
Results
Results will discuss to what extent father-child and mother-child attachment relationships differ from each other and how they are (differentially) linked to children’s social-emotional development. Furthermore, results will reveal to what extent these associations are similar across high and low SES families.

Authors

• Katrien Helmerhorst, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Presenting Author

• Lisa van der Storm, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicole Lucassen, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Renske Keizer, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author