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Contingency in maternal sensitivity and quality of child attachment
Gemma Pons-Salvador1, Rosa M Trenado1, M Ángeles Cerezo1
1Department of Psychology. University of Valencia 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|February 2, 2025
Summary
Mothers of securely attached infants provide more attentive, less interfering responses. This secure attachment is linked to quicker, protective-intrusive maternal interactions, fostering positive infant development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Behavior
- Attachment Theory
Background:
- Maternal responsiveness is crucial for infant socio-emotional development.
- Attachment styles, formed in infancy, influence child-parent interactions.
- Understanding maternal contingent responses offers insight into secure and insecure attachment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine patterns of maternal contingent responses based on infant attachment styles.
- To analyze maternal sensitivity dimensions (appropriateness and promptness) in relation to infant attachment.
- To correlate specific maternal behaviors with secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant attachment.
Main Methods:
- Studied 78 mother-infant dyads at 8 months, assessing attachment at 15 months using the Strange Situation Procedure.
- Observed mother-infant free-play interactions using the Early Mother-Child Interaction Coding System-Revised.
- Analyzed maternal sensitivity: proportion and frequency of interfering/non-interfering responses, and latency of contingent responses.
Main Results:
- Securely attached infants received fewer interfering maternal behaviors compared to insecurely attached infants.
- Infants with secure attachment experienced a higher frequency of non-interfering maternal contingent responses.
- Secure attachment was associated with quicker, protective-intrusive maternal responses.
Conclusions:
- Secure infant attachment is characterized by reduced maternal interference and increased attentive responses.
- Maternal sensitivity, particularly promptness and non-interfering behaviors, plays a significant role in fostering secure attachment.
- These findings highlight the bidirectional influence between maternal responsiveness and infant attachment patterns.
Keywords:
Child attachmentContingent maternal responseEarly mother–child interactionMaternal response latencyMaternal responsivenessMaternal sensitivityMore Related Videos
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