State Trust in Middle Childhood: An Experimental Manipulation of Maternal Support

Abstract

Attachment representations have traditionally been considered a stable trait, although evidence is found that attachment varies over time and situations conditional upon exposure to life-events and diverse contextual factors. This suggests that attachment consists of both trait and state like components. The current study aimed to evaluate if experiences with maternal support modulate children's state trust in mother's availability. For this purpose, we set up an experimental procedure. First, children watched a negative mood inducing video to activate negative emotions. In the following experimental phase, mothers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In condition one, mothers were instructed to provide secure base support to the distressed child. In the second condition, mother

State attachment variability across distressing situations in middle childhood

“…The current studies’ findings in favor of state attachment variability add to previous studies that found evidence for state attachment fluctuations (e.g., Bosmans, Van de Walle et al, ; Vandevivere et al, ). Specifically, we found that SBS expectations can vary within individuals even across contexts with similar situational characteristics, and even when these expectations are assessed at the same point in time.…”

“…More recently, however, scholars have started to approach attachment from a more dynamic, state‐like perspective, focusing on individual's “at‐the‐moment” attachment expectations and suggesting that attachment expectations are sensitive to context (Fraley, ; Kobak & Bosmans, ) . The first few studies into state attachment variability indicate that expectations of trust in caregiver support are immediately sensitive to experiences of support and conflict with the attachment figure (Bosmans, Van de Walle, Goossens, & Ceulemans, ; Vandevivere, Bosmans, Roels, Dujardin, & Braet, ). As these studies focused on state attachment variability across contexts with different situational characteristics, to date it remains largely unclear (a) whether state attachment fluctuations can also occur across contexts with similar situational characteristics, that is, across a variety of distressing situations, (b) whether state attachment variability has a unidimensional structure (i.e., expectations of overall trust vs. no‐trust in caregiver support) or comprises different components (e.g., expectations about support seeking, expectations about the effectiveness of support), (c) how degree of state attachment variability is associated with more general, trait‐like attachment expectations, and (d) how state attachment variability is associated with psychological well‐being.…”

“…In adults, activating an insecure attachment context (i.e., have participants recall an occasion during which they felt unloved or not respected by their attachment figure) temporarily decreased secure state attachment toward the romantic partner (Bosmans, Bowles, Dewitte, De Winter, & Braet, ). A study in children in which availability of mother during distress was experimentally manipulated, showed that children's state trust in mother significantly decreased when mother was not available for providing support (Vandevivere et al, ). Moreover, a daily diary study in middle childhood showed that children's state attachment was linked to context: the experience of a conflict with mother was associated with less secure attachment appraisals that day as compared to days on which children had not experienced any conflict with their mother (Bosmans, Van de Walle et al, ).…”

Interpretation bias in middle childhood attachment: Causal effects on attachment memories and scripts

“…However, when designing the placebo trials (De Winter et al, 2017), neutral maternal behavior in the context of children's support seeking during distress actually appears insensitive or unresponsive. A recent study in middle childhood further supported this concern (Vandevivere, Bosmans, Roels, Dujardin, & Braet, 2017). After exposure to distress, children were attributed to one of two conditions: one condition in which their own mother provided secure base support and one condition in which mother was only physically available but provided no support.…”

Trust development as an expectancy-learning process: Testing contingency effects

“…As a result, adults in our study might have been more motivated to protect themselves from new harm. Instead, children are much more susceptible to positive attachment experiences [39] and may have been more motivated to retry to seek help in spite of earlier negative learning experiences.…”