Mother-child relationship, child fearfulness, and emerging attachment: a short-term longitudinal study

Mother-child relationship (maternal responsiveness and shared affective positivity), observed in naturalistic interactions, and child fearfulness, assessed in standard procedures involving exposure to unfamiliar stimuli and with parental reports, were examined at 8-10 and 13-15 months in relation to child attachment in the Strange Situation at 13-15 months (N = 108). Mother-child relationship, at 13-15 months only, predicted child security versus insecurity but not the type of insecurity. In contrast, child fearfulness was unrelated to security versus insecurity but predicted the type of insecurity and arousal in the Strange Situation. Resistant and highly aroused children (B3-C2) were more fearful than avoidant and less aroused children (A1-B2). The analyses using discrete and continuous attachment scores produced converging results. The study informs the debate on early relationships, temperament, and attachment.