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IV. CO-CONSTRUCTION OF ATTACHMENT REPRESENTATIONS AND AFFECT-REGULATING COGNITIONS: THE ROLE OF MATERNAL ATTACHMENT
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
|December 7, 2018
Summary
Maternal co-construction skills significantly enhance early childhood attachment representations. Mothers with secure attachment script knowledge and coherent narratives foster better communication and elaboration in children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Attachment Theory
- Early Childhood Education
Background:
- Attachment representations are crucial for socio-emotional development in early childhood.
- Maternal communication and co-construction skills play a vital role in shaping these representations.
- Understanding the specific maternal skills that foster secure attachment is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between maternal co-construction skills and the development of attachment-relevant representations in young children.
- To examine how maternal secure base script knowledge and narrative coherence relate to effective co-construction during parent-child interactions.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-four mother-child dyads (children aged 4-5 years) participated in attachment storytelling and affect discussion tasks.
- Maternal co-construction skills were assessed, focusing on partnership quality, prompting elaboration, and framework building.
- Mothers completed the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI).
Main Results:
- Mothers' secure base script knowledge (ASA) positively correlated with communication effectiveness, encouraging elaboration, and using open-ended/why questions.
- Maternal Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) coherence demonstrated a similar positive association with co-construction support.
- Effective co-construction skills facilitate the building of attachment-relevant representations.
Conclusions:
- Maternal secure attachment knowledge and narrative coherence are linked to superior co-construction abilities.
- These skills are instrumental in fostering children's attachment representations.
- Interventions aimed at enhancing maternal co-construction may support secure attachment development.
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