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Related Experiment Videos

Earned-secure attachment status in retrospect and prospect.

Glenn L Roisman1, Elena Padrón, L Alan Sroufe

  • 1Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA. roism001@tc.umn.edu

Child Development
|July 31, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Individuals with earned-secure attachment styles, despite past adversity, parent effectively. Longitudinal data suggest their childhoods were surprisingly supportive, challenging prior assumptions about earned-secure development and adult distress.

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Attachment Theory
  • Longitudinal Studies

Background:

  • Past research indicated "earned-secure" adults (coherent narrative of negative childhoods) parent effectively but experience depressive symptoms.
  • Continuous-secure adults (coherent narrative of positive childhoods) also parent effectively, serving as a comparison group.
  • A key premise posits earned-secures experienced insecure attachments or harsh parenting, which they overcame.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To longitudinally test the premise that "earned-secure" adults experienced insecure attachments or harsh parenting in youth.
  • To examine the relationship between retrospective and prospective definitions of earned-secure attachment.
  • To investigate adult outcomes, including parenting and psychological distress, for different attachment classifications.

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Main Methods:

  • A 23-year longitudinal study utilizing data from the Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview.
  • Retrospective analysis of adult attachment narratives and childhood experiences.
  • Prospective analysis using infant attachment classifications and subsequent developmental data.

Main Results:

  • Retrospectively defined earned-secures were not more likely than continuous-secures to have insecure infant attachments.
  • Retrospective earned-secures experienced supportive and structured maternal parenting during childhood and adolescence.
  • Prospectively defined earned-secures achieved success in adult relationships with low internalizing distress.

Conclusions:

  • The findings challenge the assumption that earned-secure attachment stems from overcoming early insecure attachments or harsh parenting.
  • Supportive early parenting may contribute to the development of earned-secure attachment, even with negative retrospective narratives.
  • Prospective earned-secure attachment is associated with positive adult relationship functioning and psychological well-being.