Attachment Security in Three‐Year‐Olds who Entered Substitute Care in Infancy

Altenhofen, Shannon; Clyman, Robert B.; Little, Christina; Baker, Megan; Biringen, Zeynep

doi:10.1002/imhj.21401

Cited by 38 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Although EA sensitivity was highly and positively correlated with the other EA dimensions, consistent with findings obtained in other cultural contexts (Altenhofen, Clyman, Little, Baker, & Biringen, ; Bornstein et al., ; Kubicek, Riley, Coleman, Miller, & Linder, ), the criterion validity of the EA sensitivity scale was not met, as implied from the negative association between EA sensitivity and peer likability. The association between sensitivity and vocabulary did not reach statistical significance, but it was observed to be in the negative direction, which is inconsistent with theory.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Measuring Maternal Sensitivity: Cultural Variations in the Measurement of Emotional Availability

Cheung

Elliott

2016

Child Development

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The validity of the Emotional Availability (EA) sensitivity scale was examined in Singapore. Participants were mainly from middle-class families of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and "Other" ethnic groups. Study 1 involved 30 mother-child dyads (children aged 4-6). Scores on EA sensitivity and the Maternal Behavior Q-set were highly correlated, suggesting convergent validity. In Study 2 (164 mother-child dyads), criterion validity was tested by the associations between EA sensitivity and children's vocabulary and likability by peers. Unlike findings from similar studies conducted in the United States, EA sensitivity was negatively correlated with children's likability by female peers, suggesting that measures developed in Western contexts may not be fully applicable locally, or that the meaning of sensitivity may vary across cultures.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Measuring Maternal Sensitivity: Cultural Variations in the Measurement of Emotional Availability

Cheung

Elliott

2016

Child Development

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“…Research has shown associations between bonding measured at different time-points in the perinatal period: Prenatal bonding has been associated with postnatal bonding (Rossen et al, 2016(Rossen et al, , 2017 while bonding was shown to be associated at 4 weeks, 4 months, and 8 months postnatal (Condon & Corkindale, 1998). While EA has been studied extensively in relation to attachment (Altenhofen, Clyman, Little, Baker, & Biringen, 2013;Altenhofen, Sutherland, & Biringen, 2010), including the Strange Situation protocol (Aviezer, Sagi, Joels, & Ziv, 1999;Aviezer, Sagi-Schwartz, & Koren-Karie, 2003;Biringen et al, 2005;Carter, Garrity-Rokous, Chazan-Cohen, Little, & Briggs-Gowan, 2001;Easterbrooks et al, 2000;Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagi, & Koren-Karie, 2000), the relationship of early self-reported bonding (8 weeks postnatal) and EA at 12-months has yet to be examined. In particular, these associations have not previously been investigated in a large community sample that included both mothers and partners, using a longitudinal cohort study design.…”

Section: Subjective Appraisals Of the Parent-infant Bondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Rossen

Mattick

Wilson

et al. 2018

Infancy

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Emotional availability (EA) is a focal indicator of parent–infant relationship quality and plays a key role in determining healthy child development, yet factors thought to influence EA have not been examined comprehensively in the postnatal period in both mothers and partners. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of mother–infant and partner–infant bonding, mental ill‐health and substance use at 8 weeks postbirth on mother–infant and partner–infant EA at 12 months postbirth, accounting for a range of demographic and postnatal variables. Participants were 191 matched mother–partner–infant triads from a nested sample of an Australian longitudinal pregnancy cohort (The Triple B Pregnancy Cohort). Assessments were conducted at 8 weeks postbirth and at infant age 12 months. Parental EA was coded from dyadic interactions during a 20‐min free play observational video recorded at 12 months. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis, accounting for within‐dyad clustering, showed older parent age was associated with higher parent–child EA scores (χ2 = 6.28, p < .01), while parental tobacco use (χ2 = 7.35, p < .01) and depression (χ2 = 4.51, p < .05) at 8 weeks postnatal predicted poorer parent–child EA scores at 12 months. These novel findings suggest that it may be particularly important to support young couples and those struggling with symptoms of depression or tobacco use during the postnatal period.

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“…Some recent studies have observed emotional availability in adoptive parent-child dyads (Garvin et al 2012) or have specifically focused on the relation between attachment and emotional availability in adoptive and foster families (Altenhofen et al 2013;Van den Dries et al 2012 ). As a whole, they showed a good level of emotional availability in adoptive/foster families and provided some data in support of an association between child attachment and emotional availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Late Adoptions: Attachment Security and Emotional Availability in Mother–Child and Father–Child Dyads

et al. 2017

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Late adoptions: attachment security and emotional availability in mother-child and father-child dyads. A growing body of research suggests that a history of neglect, abuse and institutionalization can negatively affect late-adopted children's attachment representations, and that adoptive parents can play a key role in enabling adopted children to earn secure attachments. Still, only a few studies have explored the quality of caregiver-child interaction in adoptive families. The present study aimed at verifying both the concordance of attachment in adoptive dyads (mother-children and father-children) and the relationship between attachment representations and parent-child interaction. The research involved 20 adoptive families in which the child's arrival had occurred between 12 to 36 months before the assessment, and where children were aged between 4.5 and 8.5 years. Attachment was assessed through the Adult Attachment Interview for parents and through the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task for children. The emotional quality of parent-child interaction was assessed trough the Emotional Availability Scales. Our results pointed out the presence of a relation between attachment representations of late-adopted children and their adoptive mothers (75%, K = 0.50, p = .025). In addition, we found that both insecure children and mothers showed lower levels of EA than secure ones. Some explanations are presented about why, in the early post-adoption period, child attachment patterns and dyadic emotional availability seem to be arranged on different frameworks for the two parental figures.

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Attachment Security in Three‐Year‐Olds who Entered Substitute Care in Infancy

Cited by 38 publications

References 91 publications

Measuring Maternal Sensitivity: Cultural Variations in the Measurement of Emotional Availability

Measuring Maternal Sensitivity: Cultural Variations in the Measurement of Emotional Availability

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Late Adoptions: Attachment Security and Emotional Availability in Mother–Child and Father–Child Dyads

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