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Infant-mother attachment and the growth of externalizing problems across the primary-school years

R M Pasco Fearon1, Jay Belsky

  • 1University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, UK. p.fearon@reading.ac.uk

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|January 11, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Early childhood attachment insecurity, particularly disorganized attachment, is linked to externalizing behavior problems. This risk is higher for boys in risky contexts, underscoring attachment

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Attachment Theory

Background:

  • Attachment insecurity is hypothesized to increase the risk for childhood externalizing behavior problems.
  • Understanding the nuances of early attachment is crucial for identifying at-risk children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between early attachment styles and the development of externalizing behavior problems in children.
  • To examine how factors like family risk, child gender, and age moderate this association.

Main Methods:

  • Latent-growth curve modeling was employed.
  • Data from 1,364 children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were analyzed.
  • Teacher-rated externalizing problems were assessed across primary school years.

Main Results:

  • Both avoidant and disorganized attachment predicted higher levels of externalizing problems.
  • Disorganized attachment's impact was moderated by cumulative family risk, child gender, and age.
  • Disorganized boys in high-risk social contexts showed increasing behavior problems over time.

Conclusions:

  • Early attachment plays a conditional role in children's externalizing behavior.
  • Further research is needed to explore causal pathways and mediating mechanisms.
  • Intervention strategies may need to consider attachment security and contextual risks.
Abstract

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