Configurations of mother–child and father–child attachment relationships as predictors of child language competence: An individual participant data meta‐analysis

Abstract

An individual participant data meta‐analysis was conducted to test pre‐registered hypotheses about how the configuration of attachment relationships to mothers and fathers predicts children's language competence. Data from seven studies (published between 1985 and 2014) including 719 children (Mage: 19.84 months; 51% female; 87% White) were included in the linear mixed effects analyses. Mean language competence scores exceeded the population average across children with different attachment configurations. Children with two secure attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one or no secure attachment relationships (d = .26). Children with two organized attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one organized attachment relationship (d = .23), and this difference was observed in older versus younger children in exploratory analyses. Mother–child and father–child attachment quality did not differentially predict language competence, supporting the comparable importance of attachment to both parents in predicting developmental outcomes.

The predictive validity of the strange situation procedure: Evidence from registered analyses of two landmark longitudinal studies

“…These findings are moreover consistent with two recent metaanalytic reports (not available at the time of our registration) that infant attachment is associated with academic outcomes (i.e., Dagan et al, 2023;Deneault et al, 2023). More specifically, Deneault and colleagues (2023) found that mother-child attachment, as measured by the Strange Situation Procedure, was metaanalytically associated with the child's cognition (r = .17) and language outcomes (r = .16).…”

“…Importantly, a similar pattern has been observed repeatedly with respect to direct observations of the quality of early caregiving (e.g., maternal sensitivity), such that associations observed between the quality of mother-child interactions in infancy and academic skills is reliably stronger than it is for socioemotional outcomes across several prospective, longitudinal data sets (e.g., Fraley et al, 2013;Haltigan et al, 2013;Raby et al, 2015;Roisman & Fraley, 2012). Nevertheless, due to the relative lack of literature regarding infant attachment and academic skills (but see Dagan et al, 2023;Deneault et al, 2023), it is currently unclear what might be driving these patterns of results. Several hypotheses based on attachment theory have been proposed in earlier work, however (see Bretherton et al, 1979;Van IJzendoorn et al, 1995).…”

Maternal and paternal sensitivity: Key determinants of child attachment security examined through meta-analysis.

“…As has been frequently noted, future studies exploring these distinctions should endeavor to overcome the consistent limitation in the field of attachment of small samples (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994; Deneault, Bureau, et al, 2022; Deneault, Hammond, et al, 2023; Groh et al, 2014; Madigan et al, 2023; Verhage et al, 2016). It is critical, therefore, that future research leverage multisite data collection approaches and/or individual participant data (IPD) analyses when examining distinct antecedents and sequelae of avoidant, resistant, and disorganized attachment (e.g., Dagan et al, 2024; Verhage et al, 2018).…”

“…In a recent IPD synthesis on 1,097 dyads from nine studies that had both child–mother and child–father attachment, Dagan et al (2021) demonstrated that the presence of at least one insecure attachment relationship (with either fathers or mothers) versus secure attachment with both parents increased the child’s risk of developing elevated internalizing problems. Studies that include a multiple-caregiver framework that more accurately characterize the social context in which children develop, such as the one by Dagan et al (2024) and one by Van IJzendoorn et al (1992) that included day care providers, have the potential to advance scientific understanding and spur new and novel research directions in developmental science.…”

Social Brain Perspectives on the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience of Human Language

“…Interestingly, randomized clinical trials appear to support this view, in finding consistent improvements in children's expressive linguistic abilities with increases in child-to-parent interactions [72][73][74][75]. But perhaps most intriguingly, recent meta-analyses have shown that children with secure attachment to both their mother and father have greater language capabilities compared to children with one or no securely attached relationships [76].…”