Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:05:45.272Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in attachment during the third year: Consequences and predictions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Beverly I. Fagot*
Affiliation:
University of Oregon and Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene
Katherine C. Pears
Affiliation:
University of Oregon and Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene
*
Beverly I. Fagot, Oregon Social Learning Center, 207 East 5th Avenue, Suite 202, Eugene, OR 97401.

Abstract

Crittenden has proposed a system for classifying attachment during the preschool years. Ninety-six boys and girls were tested in the Strange Situation at 18 months and 30 months of age. Eighteen-month-olds were coded using the Ainsworth coding system, and the 30-month-olds were coded using Crittenden's preschool attachment coding system. When children changed classification categories, it was not random movement but was in accordance with Crittenden's predictions of reorganization of the child's capacities. Mothers and children were also observed in the home at 18 and 30 months of age, and children were observed in playgroups from 18 to 30 months of age. The children were rated by their teachers on problem behaviors and peer relations and given achievement tests at age 7 years. Parenting of the children and child behaviors at 30 months differed by attachment classification and predicted both children's performance on achievement tests and teacher reports of children's behavior at 7 years. The findings are discussed in terms of reorganization of working models of attachment on the basis of changing child competencies.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Teacher Report Form and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T., Edelbrock, C., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Empirically bases assessment of the behavioral/ emotional problems of 2- and 3-year-old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 629650.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Wittig, B. A. (1969). Attachment and the exploratory behavior of one-year olds in a strange situation. In Foss, B. H. (Ed.), Determinants of infant behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 113136). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Bates, J. E., Maslin, C. A., & Frankel, K. A. (1985). Attachment security, mother-child interaction, and temperament as predictors of behavior-problem ratings at age three years. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research (pp. 167193). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209).Google Scholar
Belsky, J., & Isabella, R. (1988). Maternal, infant, and social-contextual determinants of attachment security. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 4194). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research (pp. 335). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassidy, J., & Marvin, R. (1990). Attachment organization in preschool children: Coding guidelines. Seattle: MacArthur Working Group on Attachment.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J. B. (1987). Parent observation and report of child symptoms. Behavioral Assessment, 9, 97109.Google Scholar
Crittenden, P. M. (1992a). Classification of quality of attachment for preschool-aged children. Unpublished coding manual. (Available from P. M. Crittenden, 9481 SW 147 Street, Miami, FL 33176.)Google Scholar
Crittenden, P. M. (1992b). The quality of attachment in the preschool years. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 209241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeland, B., & Farber, E. A. (1984). Infant-mother attachment: Factors related to its development and changes over time. Child Development, 55, 753771.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in preschool in a high-risk sample. In Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research (pp. 147166). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 50(1–2, Serial No. 209). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fagot, B. I. (1983). Training manual for the interactive code. Unpublished training manual. (Available from B. I. Fagot, Oregon Social Learning Center, 207 East 5th Avenue, Suite 202, Eugene, OR 97401.)Google Scholar
Fagot, B. I., Gauvain, M., & Kavanagh, K. (in press). Infant attachment and mother-child problem solving: A replication. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.Google Scholar
Fagot, B. I., & Kavanagh, K. (1990). The prediction of antisocial behavior from avoidant attachment classifications. Child Development, 61, 864873.Google Scholar
Fagot, B. I., & Kavanagh, K. (1993). Parenting during the second year: Influence of age, sex of child, and attachment classification. Child Development, 64, 258271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankel, K. A., & Bates, J. E. (1990). Mother-toddler problem solving: Antecedents in attachment, home behavior, and temperament. Child Development, 61, 810819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gauvain, M., & DeMent, T., (1991). The role of shared social history in parent-child cognitive activity. Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 13, 5866.Google Scholar
Gauvain, M., & Rogoff, B. (1989). Collaborative problem solving and children's planning skills. Developmental Psychology, 25(1), 139151.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., Speltz, M. L., & DeKlyen, M. (1993). The role of attachment in the early development of disruptive behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 191213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kavanagh, K. (1986). Tirotot: A telephone interview for parents of toddlers. Unpublished instrument. (Available from K. Kavanagh, Oregon Social Learning Center, 207 East 5th Avenue, Suite 202, Eugene, OR 97401.)Google Scholar
LaFrenicre, P. J., & Sroufe, L. A. (1985). Profiles of peer competence: Interrelations among measures, influence of social ecology, and relation to attachment history. Developmental Psychology, 21, 566.Google Scholar
Matas, L., Arend, R. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (1978). Continuity of adaptation in the second year: The relationship between quality of attachment and later competence. Child Development, 49, 547556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Psychological Corporation (1983). Basic Achievement Skills Individual Screener. New York: Author.Google Scholar
Reeve, R. (1987, 04). Functional significance of parentalscaffoldingas a moderator of social influence on children's cognition. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.Google Scholar
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rogoff, B., & Gauvain, M. (1986). Analysis of functional patterns in mother-child interaction. In Valsiner, J. (Ed.), The role of the individual subject in scientific psychology (pp. 261290). New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Keenan, K., & Vondra, J. I. (1994). Developmental precursors of externalizing behavior: Ages 1 to 3. Developmental Psychology, 30, 355364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1983). Infant-caregiver attachment and patterns of adaption in preschool: The roots of maladaptation and competence. In Perlmutter, M. (Ed.), Development and policy concerning children with special needs. Minnesotasymposium in child psychology (Vol. 16, pp. 4181). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In Hartup, W. & Rubin, Z. (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 5772). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Kroonenberg, P. M. (1988). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: A metaanalysis of the Strange Situation. Child Development, 59, 147156.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). The mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Walker, H. M., & McConnell, S. R. (1988). The Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Waters, E., Kondo-Ikemura, K., Posada, G., & Richters, J. E. (1990). Learning to love: Mechanisms and milestones. In Gunnar, M. R. & Sroufe, L. A. (Eds.), Self processes and development. Minnesota symposium on child psychology (Vol. 23, pp. 217255). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar