Child‐father attachment in early childhood and behavior problems: A meta‐analysis

Deneault, Audrey‐Ann; Bakermans‐Kranenburg, Marian J.; Groh, Ashley M.; Fearon, Pasco; Madigan, Sheri

doi:10.1002/cad.20434

Cited by 43 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…This study sought to build upon recent meta-analyses on child–parent attachment and externalizing behaviors (Dagan et al, 2022; Deneault et al, 2021; Fearon et al, 2010). Specifically, we examined whether specific insecure attachment types in the preschool years predicted the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fewer studies, although sufficient in number for a meta-analysis, have considered the association between child–father attachment and externalizing behaviors. A recent meta-analysis of 15 studies ( N = 1,304) has shown that insecure attachment to fathers is associated with more externalizing behaviors in children ( d = .37, p < .001; Deneault et al, 2021). In contrast to the results for child–mother attachment, this effect did not differ based on child gender.…”

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study also did not report effect sizes specific to each type of insecure attachment. As the authors explain, many studies that assess child–father attachment only have a small number of participants (Deneault et al, 2021). Given that attachment types are not normally distributed, this results in only a few children in each attachment type, which forces the creation of a single insecure group to derive sufficient statistical power.…”

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The corpus of recent meta-analyses on child–parent attachment and child externalizing behaviors (Dagan et al, 2022; Deneault et al, 2021; Fearon et al, 2010) provides critical information on the ways that attachment relationships may promote adaptation or act as risk factors for maladaptation and provide a springboard for future research on the topic. An important gap in knowledge pertains to the ways that different types of insecure-organized child–father attachment and subtypes of disorganization may independently or jointly increase the risk for externalizing behaviors.…”

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One meta-analysis has shown that child–mother attachment insecurity is associated with increased externalizing behaviors (Fearon et al, 2010). A more recent meta-analysis focused on the comparatively smaller number of studies that examined child–father attachment, and revealed that child–father insecure attachment is also associated with more externalizing behaviors (Deneault et al, 2021). These studies, however, only report on the independent effect of each attachment relationship on externalizing behaviors.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Do child–father and child–mother preschool insecure attachment types predict the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood?

Deneault¹,

Bureau²,

Yurkowski³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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Past meta-analyses show that both child–mother and child–father attachment insecurity are independently and jointly associated with more externalizing behaviors in children. Little is known, however, on the ways that different types of insecure attachment independently and jointly predict the development of externalizing behaviors over time. Existing work also neglects the impact of children’s gender within the context of child–father relationships. The current study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure type of child–father attachment, child–mother attachment, and their interaction in the preschool years predict boys’ and girls’ externalizing behaviors in middle childhood, when controlling for children’s externalizing behaviors in the preschool years. The sample included 144 preschool-aged children (M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77, 83 girls) and both of their parents. At Time 1, children completed independent separation-reunion procedures with each parent, which were coded using the Preschool Attachment Rating Scales. At Time 1 and Time 2 (5 years later), mothers and fathers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to report on their children’s externalizing behaviors. Results showed no systematic differences in the way that child–mother and child–father attachment predicted the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls. Across all children, results identified an interaction of child–father and child–mother ambivalence, by which the presence of ambivalence toward both parents predicted the development of more externalizing behaviors. In addition, child–father controlling-caregiving attachment predicted the development of fewer externalizing behaviors. These results provide insight into the ways that insecure child–father and child–mother attachment predict later socioemotional adaptation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Externalizing Behaviors In the School Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Do child–father and child–mother preschool insecure attachment types predict the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood?

Deneault¹,

Bureau²,

Yurkowski³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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Configurations of mother‐child and father‐child attachment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems: An individual participant data (IPD) meta‐analysis

Dagan

Schuengel

Verhage

et al. 2021

New Drctns Chld & Adlscnt

Self Cite

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An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children's attachment patterns with mothers and fathers jointly predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing behavioral problems compared with children who were securely attached to both parents. Children whose attachment relationships with both parents were classified as disorganized had more externalizing behavioral problems compared to children with either one or no disorganized attachment relationship with their parents. Across attachment classification networks and behavioral problems, findings suggest (a) an increased vulnerability to behavioral problems when children have insecure or disorganized attachment to both parents, and (b) that mother-child and father-child attachment relationships may not differ in the roles they play in children's development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems.

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Attachment networks to multiple caregivers: An introduction to a special issue

Dagan

Sagi‐Schwartz

IJzendoorn

2021

New Drctns Chld & Adlscnt

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This special issue aims to bolster important research that has been inconsistently and rather scarcely conducted in the past 35 years: the role that multiple caregivers jointly play in the developmental trajectories of children. Despite theoretically and empirically driven calls to assess children's development through the lenses of simultaneous and independent attachment relationships (van IJzendoorn & Tavecchio et al., 1987;van IJzendoorn et al., 1992), attachment research has predominantly focused on mother-child relationships, deeming other caretakers, at best, as subsidiary attachment figures with a marginal influence on the child's development. This special issue aims to expand on the topic by providing historical, ethological, cross-cultural, clinical, methodological, and legal perspectives on the matter.This special issue opens with a review paper by Dagan and Sagi-Schwartz ( 2021), who briefly present an historical account of the nonlinear shift in attachment theory and research, from a wide interest in assessing almost exclusively mother-child attachment relationships, to assessing father-child attachment patterns, and leading up to the current increase in interest and empirical work on attachment network to multiple caregivers. The authors also revisit their recent proposed attachment network assessment models (Dagan & Sagi-Schwartz, 2018, 2020. Karaskiewicz et al. (2021) present an ethological study on the network of attachment in mother-father-infant titi monkey (Plecturocebus cupreus) triads. The authors assessed the change in pair bonding quality before and after the couples' first offspring birth. They show that affiliation between the parents significantly decreased after birth of the first offspring and stayed relatively low even after infants' transition to behavioral independence, with multiple factors contributing to variability in such pair bonding trajectories. Importantly, Karaskiewicz and colleagues highlight a unique perspective on how new members of the attachment network (i.e., newborns) can influence the relationship quality between its existing members (e.g., mothers and fathers).The meta-analysis by Deneault et al. (2021) quantifies the associations between fatherchild attachment and behavior problems across 15 studies. The authors report two intriguing results. The first is that insecure child-father attachment is significantly associated with higher internalizing and externalizing behavior problems compared with secure dyads. The second surprising finding revealed that the effect sizes for insecure child-father attachment are equivalent to those reported in previous meta-analyses on child-mother attachment in relation to behavior problems.The individual participant data meta-analysis by expands on Deneault and colleagues' study-level meta-analysis by examining the associations between attachment networks to mothers and fathers and behavior problems. This study indicates

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Child‐father attachment in early childhood and behavior problems: A meta‐analysis

Cited by 43 publications

References 70 publications

Do child–father and child–mother preschool insecure attachment types predict the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood?

Do child–father and child–mother preschool insecure attachment types predict the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood?

Configurations of mother‐child and father‐child attachment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems: An individual participant data (IPD) meta‐analysis

Attachment networks to multiple caregivers: An introduction to a special issue

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