Attachment organizations in children with difficult life circumstances

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to use the Attachment Q-Set to create categories of attachment organization that were conceptually consistent with organizational categories derived from other attachment assessments, reliable, and valid. We were particularly interested in creating categories that would describe insecure attachment organizations in children from difficult life circumstances. Our sample of relationships included 3062 teacher-child relationships. Children ranged in age from toddlers to kindergartners and were diverse in ethnic background. Two percent of the children were diagnosed with severe social and emotional problems and enrolled in a therapeutic preschool. Sixteen percent were enrolled in intervention programs on the basis of family poverty and another 34% of the children attended subsidized child care programs for low-income children. All of the children's child-teacher relationships were assessed with the Attachment Q-Set (AQS). Independent observers observed or rated children's peer play. Teachers completed behavior problem questionnaires and Student Teacher Relationships Scales. Using the AQS we created five subscales and six attachment organizational categories. These subscales and organizational categories were associated in theoretically meaningful ways with measures of behavior problems, social competence with peers, and teacher perceptions of child-teacher relationship. Increasing numbers of children who live in Insecure and disorganized child-mother attachment organizations also are associated difficult life circumstances-maltreatment, parental psychopathology or substance abuse, with children who live in difficult life circumstances (Carlson et al, 1989; Lyons-Ruth, and poverty-are enrolled in child care and intervention programs, including Head Start. Connell, Grunebaum, & Botein, 1990; O'Conner et al., 1987; Rodning et al., 1991; Spiek-These difficult life circumstances are often associated with children who withdraw from or er & Booth, 1988). Children whose prior experiences suggest that adults cannot be trusted aggress towards adults and other children (Carlson, Cicchetti, Barnett, & Braunwald, to care for them or to help them organize their worlds often will act towards a teacher as if

Examining Teacher–Child Relationships and Achievement as Part of an Ecological Model of Development

“…Furthermore, results from this and other studies indicate protective effects of high-quality teacher-child relationships (e.g., Birch & Ladd, 1996;Howes & Ritchie, 1999). Educating teachers as to how to develop highquality relationships with children may provide strategies for teachers working with children who are at risk for lower levels of achievement.…”

Change in parenting, change in student–teacher relationships, and oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR): Testing a gene-×-environment (G×E) hypothesis in two samples.

“…Sample items include "I share an affectionate, warm relationship with this child" (closeness), "This child is overly dependent on me" (dependency), and "This child easily becomes angry with me" (conflict). The STRS is a widely used instrument of preschool-and elementary-aged children (e.g., Birch & Ladd, 1997;Howes & Ritchie, 1999;Skalická et al, 2015). Because we had no hypothesis regarding which aspect of the student-teacher relationship would be (differentially) affected by the parent-child This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

Suggestions for a Teacher Training Program for Inclusive Education in a Japanese University

“…This questionnaire assesses the affective quality of caregiving relationships in primary and secondary education and is used to determine teachers' perceptions of their relationships with individual children. Previous studies have examined teacher-child relationships in primary and secondary schools (Baker, 1998(Baker, , 2006, 1998Howes & Ritchie, 1999;Hughes, Cavell, & Jackson, 1999;Pianta, 1999). These studies consistently indicated that close relationships with teachers are associated with positive school adjustment.…”