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Romantic Attachment Styles, Harsh Parenting Behavior, and Children's Emotional Reactivity: A Process Model
Cory R Platts1, Melissa L Sturge-Apple1, Zhi Li2
1Department of Psychology, University of Rochester.
International Journal of Behavioral Development
|September 5, 2025
Summary
Mothers' romantic attachment styles influence children's emotional reactivity through parenting. Inconsistent harsh parenting, linked to attachment anxiety, predicted increased child anger reactivity over time.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Attachment Theory
- Parent-Child Interaction
Background:
- Attachment theory posits that early relationship experiences shape adult romantic relationships.
- Parenting behaviors are crucial in children's socio-emotional development.
- Understanding the link between adult attachment and child emotional regulation is vital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if parenting behavior mediates the association between adult romantic attachment styles and children's emotional reactivity.
- To examine the specific roles of attachment anxiety and avoidance in parenting practices.
- To determine the impact of parenting on children's anger and distress reactivity over one year.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study with 235 mother-child dyads (children aged ~3 years).
- Mothers reported romantic attachment style; parenting behavior (harshness, inconsistency) was observed during lab tasks.
- Children's anger and distress reactivity were coded from emotion-eliciting tasks at two time points, one year apart.
Main Results:
- Romantic attachment anxiety predicted inconsistent harsh parenting.
- Inconsistent harsh parenting was associated with increased child anger reactivity one year later.
- Romantic attachment avoidance predicted higher average harsh parenting, but this was not linked to child reactivity.
Conclusions:
- Parenting behavior, particularly inconsistent harshness, partially mediates the link between romantic attachment anxiety and children's anger reactivity.
- Findings highlight the role of parenting in transmitting attachment-related influences across generations.
- Attachment avoidance's impact on child reactivity may not be mediated by observed harsh parenting in this sample.
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