Children’s Emerging Receptive, Positive Orientation toward Their Parents in the Network of Early Attachment Relationships

Abstract

Although children’s confidence in protection from stress and threat is often seen as the key benefit of secure attachment, scholars have increasingly come to appreciate the role of early security in inaugurating the child’s receptive, positive orientation toward the parent – a foundation for cooperative parent-child relationships and successful socialization. However, few studies have considered the child’s early attachment organization and receptive, positive orientation in the context of early relationships with both the mother and the father. Further, few studies have compared all four main attachment groups (secure, avoidant, resistant, and disorganized), and utilized multiple observational measures of children’s receptive, positive orientation toward each parent. In 192 mother-child and 186 father-child dyads from community families, children’s attachment was assessed at 15-17 months in Strange Situation Paradigm. Aspects of receptive, positive orientation toward each parent – positive affect, committed compliance, empathic concern, and restraint in response to parental prohibition – were observed in naturalistic laboratory contexts. Generally, securely attached children were more receptive and positive than insecure, although specific effects depended on the measure, comparison group (avoidant, resistant, disorganized), and the relationship (mother- or father-child). For positive orientation in the father-child dyad, being secure with both parents conferred a modest additional benefit.