No abstract

Major developments in attachment research over the past 2 decades have introduced parental mentalization as a predictor of infant-parent attachment security. Parental mentalization is the degree to which parents show frequent, coherent, or appropriate appreciation of their infants' internal states. The present study examined the triangular relations between parental mentalization, parental sensitivity, and attachment security. A total of 20 effect sizes (N = 974) on the relation between parental mentalization and attachment, 82 effect sizes (N = 6,664) on the relation between sensitivity and attachment, and 24 effect sizes (N = 2,029) on the relation between mentalization and sensitivity were subjected to multilevel meta-analyses. The results showed a pooled correlation of r = .30 between parental mentalization and infant attachment security, and rs of .25 for the correlations between sensitivity and attachment security, and between parental mentalization and sensitivity. A meta-analytic structural equation model was performed to examine the combined effects of mentalization and sensitivity as predictors of infant attachment. Together, the predictors explained 12% of the variance in attachment security. After controlling for the effect of sensitivity, the relation between parental mentalization and attachment remained, r = .24; the relation between sensitivity and attachment remained after controlling for parental mentalization, r = .19. Sensitivity also mediated the relation between parental mentalization and attachment security, r = .07, suggesting that mentalization exerts both direct and indirect influences on attachment security. The results imply that parental mentalization should be incorporated into existing models that map the predictors of infant-parent attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record

It has been suggested that the child's capacity to represent and influence another person's attentional state about an object or event in triadic interactions (declarative communication) is an early manifestation of social understanding in the second year of life. This study tested the following predictions: First, in typically developing children declarative pointing emerges later than imperative pointing. Second, the capacity to use declarative pointing is linked to the understanding of other's intentions (i.e., to the capacity to reproduce other's intended acts after seeing failed attempts to perform these acts). The study was conducted in 2 phases. In the first phase, the parents of 133 typically developing infants completed the Questionnaire on Pointing Gesture, which allowed the identification of babies able to use pointing in familiar contexts. Of these children, 40 participated in the experiment and were tested on 2 tasks: a new task designed to elicit production and comprehension of imperative and declarative pointing, and a modified version of Meltzoff's (1995) task designed to assess understanding of others' intentions. Tasks were administered to each participant in 2 sessions carried out at 3‐month intervals. Children were 12 months old on average at the 1st session and 15 months old on average at the 2nd session. Results showed that children produced and understood declarative pointing later than imperative pointing. Furthermore, production of declarative pointing was clearly linked to understanding of others' intentions. No relation was found between production and comprehension of imperative pointing and intention understanding. Implications from the association between declarative pointing and inferring other's intentions are discussed.

Attachment theory suggests that children's attachment insecurity plays a key role in the development of anxiety. In the present study we evaluated the empirical evidence for the link between insecure attachment and anxiety from early childhood to adolescence. A meta-analysis of 46 studies, from 1984 to 2010, including 8,907 children, was conducted. The results show an overall effect size of r = .30, indicating that attachment is moderately related to anxiety. Moderator analyses indicated that ambivalent attachment showed the strongest association with anxiety. Further, the relation was stronger during adolescence, when attachment and anxiety were measured through questionnaires, when the informant was the child, when attachment was measured as internal working model, in cross-sectional studies, and in studies conducted in Europe. No difference was found between studies that measured anxiety as symptoms or as a disorder, and when different kinds of anxiety were considered.

Shyness has generally been investigated as a negative and unpleasant emotional state, strongly related to social anxiety and loneliness. However, recent evidence has suggested that shyness may have a positive and socially adaptive form. We examined whether the positive expression of shyness differs from the negative expression of shyness during toddlerhood, and whether a negative relation to anxiety exists. Participants were 30-month-old children (N=102; 56 girls) who were asked to mimic animal sounds with a novel person (performance) and then to watch their performance (self-watching). Their expression of pleasure (positive reactions) and distress (negative reactions), as well as their positive and negative expressions of shyness, were coded. Children's temperamental level of shyness, sociability, and anxiety were measured with parent-reported questionnaires. Toddlers produced more positive and negative displays of shyness in the performance task than in the self-watching task. Children's positive expression of shyness was associated with lower parent-reported anxiety and higher sociability. Negative reactions, but not negative shyness, were related to children's higher anxiety levels and lower sociability. Multiple linear regression analyses confirmed a negative predictive role of the positive expression of shyness on anxiety. These results suggest that the positive expression of shyness can regulate early anxiety symptoms and already serves a social function in interpersonal interactions in early childhood.

Children’s early onset of social anxiety may be associated with their social understanding, and their ability to express emotions adaptively. We examined whether social anxiety in 48-month-old children (N = 110; 54 boys) was related to: a) a lower level of theory of mind (ToM); b) a lower proclivity to express shyness in a positive way (adaptive); and c) a higher tendency to express shyness in a negative way (non-adaptive). In addition, we investigated to what extent children’s level of social anxiety was predicted by the interaction between ToM and expressions of shyness. Children’s positive and negative expressions of shyness were observed during a performance task. ToM was measured with a validated battery, and social anxiety was assessed using both parents’ reports on questionnaires. Socially anxious children had a lower level of ToM, and displayed more negative and less positive shy expressions. However, children with a lower level of ToM who expressed more positive shyness were less socially anxious. Additional results show that children who displayed shyness only in a negative manner were more socially anxious than children who expressed shyness only in a positive way and children who did not display any shyness. Moreover, children who displayed both positive and negative expressions of shyness were more socially anxious than children who displayed shyness only in a positive way. These findings highlight the importance of ToM development and socio-emotional strategies, and their interaction, on the early development of social anxiety.

Insecure attachment to primary caregivers is associated with the development of depression symptoms in children and youth. This association has been shown by individual studies testing the relation between attachment and depression and by meta-analyses focusing on broad internalizing problems instead of depression or adult samples only. We therefore metaanalytically examined the associations between attachment security and depression in children and adolescents, using a multilevel approach. In total, 643 effect sizes were extracted from 123 independent samples. A significant moderate overall effect size was found (r = .31), indicating that insecure attachment to primary caregivers is associated with depression. Multivariate analysis of the significant moderators that impacted on the strength of the association between attachment security and depression showed that country of the study, study design, gender, the type of attachment, and the type of instrument to assess attachment uniquely contributed to the explanation of variance. This study suggests that insecure attachment may be a predictor of the development of depression in children and adolescents. When treating depression in children, attachment should therefore be addressed.

Foster care is the preferred type of out-of-home placement for children and youth when they are not able to live with their own parents. However, placement instability, and its effect on children's behavioral well-being, remains a major issue in foster care. Ten multilevel meta-analyses were performed to examine factors that can affect instability of foster care placement. We included 42 studies (published between 1990 and 2017) examining putative factors associated with placement instability, which yielded 293 effect sizes. Indications of publication bias were found, but the trim and fill procedure confirmed the main findings. Medium significant effects were found for child behavioral problems (r = 0.35), (non-)kinship care (r = 0.31), and quality parenting (r = 0.29). Smaller effects were found for age of the child (r = 0.25), placement with(out) siblings (r = 0.16), and history of maltreatment of the child before placement (r = 0.14). The effects were generally modest, but showed generalizability across continents and time. The findings can be used to improve interventions for the prevention of placement instability in foster care, and further investigations. 50%) experience a premature ending of their stay (e.g., Farmer,