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Attachment insecurity predicts child active resistance to parental requests in a compliance task

R Kok1, M H van IJzendoorn, M Linting

  • 1Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Child: Care, Health and Development
|March 8, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Early insecure attachment in children is linked to increased active resistance, especially in boys. This highlights the crucial role of the early mother-child relationship in shaping child socialization and moral behavior development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Attachment Theory

Background:

  • Parenting quality and the parent-child relationship significantly influence child compliance.
  • Child temperament interacts with parenting to affect compliance and resistance development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of early mother-child relationship quality and child temperament on child compliance and active resistance.
  • To analyze these effects in a large population-based cohort study.

Main Methods:

  • Mother-infant dyads were observed at 14 and 36 months.
  • Maternal and child behaviors, including compliance and active resistance, were coded.
  • Attachment quality was assessed and linked to behavioral outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Insecure attachment was associated with higher active resistance during a clean-up task, even after controlling for maternal sensitivity, child temperament, and gender.
  • This effect was more pronounced in boys and primarily driven by attachment avoidance.
  • Securely attached children exhibited lower levels of active resistance.

Conclusions:

  • Early attachment quality is a significant predictor of child socialization.
  • Attachment security plays a key role in the development of moral behavior in children.
  • Understanding early attachment is vital for interventions aimed at promoting positive child development.
Abstract

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