Adult attachment, couple attachment, and children's adaptation to school: an integrated attachment template and family risk model

Abstract

Most attachment theorists assume that parenting style is the central mechanism linking the quality of parents' attachment with their parents and adaptation in their children. Outside the attachment tradition, family risk models assume that many family factors affect children's adaptation, chief among them being couple relationship quality. The present study tests an integrated model that considers both theoretical and empirical links between attachment theory and family risk research. Seventy-three fathers and mothers whose first child was about to make the transition to elementary school were administered the Adult Attachment Interview and a new Couple Attachment Interview. The parents were also observed in separate visits during kindergarten year in interaction with each other and with their child. At the end of first grade, we obtained children's academic achievement test results and teachers' checklist observations of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Structural equations revealed that a family risk model that includes information from working models of attachment and observations of couple interaction predicts substantial variation in children's adaptation to elementary school.

Implications of mothering and fathering for children's development

“…Research indicates that mother-child relationships are often characterised by didactic and caregiving interactions in which maternal warmth and sensitivity are associated with positive child outcomes, while father-child interactions are more commonly characterised by playful interchanges that include teasing, rough-and-tumble play, and encouragement of risk taking (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991;Bianchi, Robinson, & Milkie, 2006;Bowlby, 1969Bowlby, /1982Bretherton, Lambert, & Golby, 2005;Dumont & Paquette, 2008;Fletcher, 2011;Grossmann et al, 2002;Kazura, 2000;Lamb, 1976Lamb, , 1997Livingston & Parker, 2011;Milkie, Kendig, Nomaguchi, & Denny, 2010;Paquette, 2004;Parke & O'Leary, 1976;Roopnarine & Mounts, 1985;Yeung, Sandberg, DavisKean, & Hofferth, 2001). These interactions vary depending on child gender and age, as well as family dynamics, including co-parenting practices, couple relationship quality, parental perspectives on gender roles, and family contextual or eco-cultural influences (Caldera & Lindsey, 2006;Carlson, Pilkauskas, McLanahan, & BrooksGunn, 2011;Cowan, Cowan, & Mehta, 2009;Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, & Levine, 1987;McHale & Rasmussen, 1998;Mehall, Spinrad, Eisenberg, & Gaertner, 2009;Newland, Coyl, & Chen, 2010;Raley & Bianchi, 2006;Yoshida, 2012).…”

Effects of family connection and family individuation

“…For example, both parental adult attachment and parental couple attachment influence children's adaptation to elementary school (Cowan, Cowan, & Mehta, 2009). Marital quality and parental conflict affect the long-term well-being of children: commitment, closeness, and equality in marriage are associated with children's psychological health (Lewis & Looney, 1984;Lewis, Beavers, Gossett, & Phillips, 1976).…”

Good Partner, Good Parent

“…Cohn, Silver, Cowan, Cowan, and Pearson (1992) found attachment security to be associated with positive marital interaction and positive parent-child relationships, with the reverse true for insecurity. Cowan, Cowan, and Mehta (2009) reported that parents' attachment to their own parents and their 'couple attachment', as measured by interview, were significant predictors of couple interaction quality, which, in turn, was a predictor of parenting. These studies suggest the relationship between parents impacts upon the parenting style of each individual.…”