Japanese infants’ attachment insecurity and externalizing/internalizing problems: Using strange situation and attachment Q‐sort methods

Abstract

According to attachment theory, an infant-mother attachment is universal, and infants who develop an insecure attachment relationship with their mother are likely to show mental health problems compared to those who develop a secure attachment relationship. These hypotheses have been empirically supported in Western cultures. However, the cross-cultural evidence is still insufficient. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between Japanese infants' attachment insecurity and mental health problems. We studied 81 Japanese infants (M age = 14.64 months, SD = 1.43, females = 54%) mostly from middleclass families. The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) and Attachment Q-sort (AQS) assessed infant attachment security. Infant externalizing and internalizing problems were rated concurrently by the mother and 6 months later by the mother and another adult (father or grandmother). Japanese infants' attachment insecurity measured by the AQS was associated with their externalizing problems concurrently and 6 months later. Infants with insecure-resistant attachment measured by the SSP had higher externalizing problems compared to those with secure attachment concurrently (not 6 months later). Attachment insecurity was not related to internalizing problems. These findings partly supported the association between attachment insecurity and mental health problems. This research also recommends observing infant attachment at home.

A Family Systems Perspective on Attachment Security and Dependency to Mother and Father in Preschool: Differential and Reciprocal Effects on Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Problems

“…Attachment research in Asian countries such as Korea, China or Japan shows a similar proportion of secure attachment patterns as in many Western countries, but a higher proportion of insecure-ambivalent than insecure-avoidant attachment patterns in early childhood [99,101] which might be expressed in higher scores of AQS dependency. Umemura et al [102] describe that mother's striving for closeness to one's baby as expressed in "amae" or "dew" is more typical for collectivistic countries. Indeed, a study with Japanese children revealed that children's "amae" behaviors to mothers are positively associated with AQS dependency to mothers but not to attachment security [103].…”

A meta-analysis of the distribution of preschool and early childhood attachment as assessed in the strange situation procedure and its modified versions

“…For the time being, it seems like this finding is an artifact of the samples available, which did not include any ambivalent children. Their representativeness of dyads from Japan is unclear, especially PRESCHOOL AND EARLY CHILDHOOD ATTACHMENT 35 given that there is evidence showing that children from Japan would be more likely to develop an ambivalent attachment due to the values and rewards of this culture (Rothbaum et al, 2000;Umemura et al, 2022).…”