Children's attachment-related self-worth: a multi-method investigation of postdivorce preschoolers’ relationships with their mothers and peers

Abstract

Three related hypotheses derived from attachment theory were examined in this multi-informant and multi-method study of 71 postdivorce mothers and their preschool children (40 boys, 31 girls): (1) mother-child interactions observed at home will be related to attachment-related representations by children (Attachment Story Completion Task or ASCT) and mothers (Parent Attachment Interview or PAI); and (2) these variables will be inversely correlated with maternal depressive symptoms and positively with social support (from mother's parents and the child's father); and (3) mother-child observations and representations will predict teacher-rated peer behavior. Where appropriate, child gender, maternal income, and child receptive language were statistically controlled. More harmonious observed mother-child interactions were associated with children's sense of self-worth in family relationships (ASCT) and maternal accounts of sensitive-effective guidance (PAI). Observational and representational variables were inversely correlated with maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers' satisfaction with social support from their parents was indirectly linked to the family variables while social support from the child's father had no measurable effect on the mother-child variables. Mother-child variables and teacher ratings were uncorrelated but explained independent variance in ASCT self-worth scores.

Scripted secure base knowledge and its relation to perceived social acceptance and competence in early middle childhood

“…Furthermore, in the present investigation there was no control for parental psychopathology, nor was there information on the quality of the parents' relationship to one another. Considering recent evidence that maternal depression and marital conflict may impact on children's self‐worth (Bretherton, Gullon‐Rivera, Page, Oettel, Corey & Golby, ), future investigations should incorporate these variables. Also, despite the accurate self‐description a child can provide with the PSPCSA, the method does not include a measure of truthfulness.…”

Predicting family health and well‐being after separation from an abusive partner: role of coercive control, mother's depression and social support

“…In the context of single parenting, mothers take on a particularly critical role in supporting the development of a healthy and functional family environment (Bretherton et al . ). Thus, identifying and reducing depressive symptoms among mothers who have histories of IPV may be a key pathway to promoting longer‐term family health and well‐being.…”

“…Close and supportive mother–child relationships are important to children's postdivorce adjustment (Bretherton et al . ). Divorced families are less hierarchical and more egalitarian than are two‐parent families (Perrin et al .…”

Children’s attachment-related narratives following US Gulf Coast hurricanes: Linkages with understanding and teacher stress

“…Narrative assessments with traumatized children exposed to maltreatment have shown that they represent significantly more frightening and violent imagery, and that the structures of their narratives are more likely to be incoherent, suggesting emotional and behavioral dysregulation and incomplete processing of frightening memories (Heller et al, 2006; Hodges et al, 2000; MacFie et al, 2001). Narrative assessments have also been shown to correspond with interactional qualities observed in the home (Bretherton et al, 2013; Dubois-Comtois and Moss, 2008; Goodman et al, 1998), and actual behavior changes parents made in response to their participation in a parenting intervention (Toth et al, 2002).…”