The aim of this study was to examine if an insecure coercive attachment pattern is associated
with disruptive behavior in preschoolers, as well as to examine the concurrent and joint effects of
attachment pattern, marital dissatisfaction, and ineffective parenting practices on disruptive
behavior. Participants included 60 preschoolers and their mothers, recruited from three sites to
ensure an adequate range of disruptive behavior. The Preschool Assessment of Attachment
(Crittenden, 1992) was used to measure attachment pattern. Results of an analysis of variance
revealed that children in the coercively attached dyads scored significantly higher on the measure
of disruptive behavior than either the defended or secure children. Results of a hierarchical
regression analysis indicated that the combination of a coercive pattern of attachment, marital
dissatisfaction, and permissive parenting practices accounted for a significant proportion of the
variance in disruptive behavior in preschoolers. These data suggest that a specific type of insecure
attachment, a coercive pattern, is associated with disruptive behavior in preschoolers. Also, the
data are consistent with previous findings of associations among marital dissatisfaction, ineffective
parenting practices, and disruptive behavior.