Repetitive thinking about the mother during distress moderates the link between children's attentional breadth around the mother and depressive symptoms in middle childhood

Children's attentional breadth around their mother: Comparing stimulus‐driven vs. cognitively controlled processes

“…Moreover, type of ABT did not moderate this association. In this way, the current finding adds to an accumulating number of studies that illustrate that a narrower attentional field around the mother can be found in children with both high and low trust (Bosmans et al, 2013;Claes et al, 2016;Van de Walle et al, 2017). The latter studies consistently showed that the quality of the parent-child relationship is the context that determines whether a narrow attentional field around the mother is a liability or a strength.…”

“…One possibility is that this bias reflects an inborn biological mechanism that supports the proximity and support seeking function of the attachment system . If the neurocognitive system is more strongly focused on mother, it is more likely that children will turn to their mother when they need her support (e.g., Van de Walle, Bijttebier, De Raedt, & Bosmans, 2017). This way, the odds may increase that children experience the sense of felt security that is a well-known source for resilience in children's lives.…”

Children’s Attention to Mother and Adolescent Stress Moderate the Attachment-Depressive Symptoms Link

“…It has been proposed that having a narrower attentional field around the mother may be helpful during distress for more securely attached children because it can facilitate support seeking behavior. Instead, for more insecurely attached children, a narrower attentional field around mother might reflect a stronger inclination to ruminate about the option to seek proximity and a more elaborate evaluation of the availability of the mother for support (e.g., Van de Walle et al, 2017 ). This could also delay proximity seeking during distress ( Bosmans et al, 2015 ).…”

“…This way, we ensured to have an attachment measure that largely reflects the broader attachment construct ( Bosmans & Kerns, 2015 ). Children’s attentional breadth around the mother was measured with a computerized task ( Bosmans et al, 2009 ; 2013 ; 2017 ; Claes et al, 2016 ; Van de Walle et al, 2017 ). Distress was measured at both follow up waves, focusing on daily distressing events that occurred within three months before the assessment.…”

“…This raises the question whether moderators might affect the direct association between attachment and depressive symptoms and whether one can identify which (in)securely attached children are more or less vulnerable to develop depressive symptoms. Prior research has pointed to distress ( Dujardin et al, 2016 ) and to attachment-related information processing biases moderating the link between attachment and symptoms of psychopathology ( Bosmans et al, 2013 ; Claes et al, 2016 ; De Winter et al, 2018 ; Van de Walle et al, 2017 ). Research suggests that both moderators might interact as well and that less securely attached children’s risk to develop depressive symptoms in adolescence might depend on whether they are exposed to distress and on whether or not they more easily focus their attention on mother during distress.…”