Parenting and Preschooler Attachment among Low‐Income Urban African American Families

Abstract

This study examined the parental correlates of child attachment in a preschool-aged, economically disadvantaged, urban, African American sample. Sixty-nine 4-to 5-year-olds and their primary caregivers participated in the Strange Situation assessment procedure. Based on Cassidy and Marvin's classification system for preschoolers, 61% of the children were classified as securely attached, with girls being significantly more likely to be securely attached than boys (74% versus 45%). The majority of the insecure attachments were of the avoidant variety. Consistent with attachment theory, parents of securely attached children were rated as significantly more warm and accepting and less controlling with their children than were parents of insecurely attached preschoolers. Relative to parents of securely attached preschoolers, parents of children judged to be insecurely attached reported being more likely to use corporal punishment and less likely to use verbal reminders when their children misbehaved. Parenting was associated with attachment over and above the effects of child sex.

Singularidades de género nas representações de vinculação durante o período pré-escolar

“…Schoppe-Sullivan et al, 2006). Alertando para a necessidade de mais estudos neste domínio, diferenças de género tanto ao nível da incidên-cia das classificações de segurança e de insegurança (Barnett, Kidwell, & Leung, 1998), como ao nível dos comportamentos discretos exibidos na Situação Estranha (David & Lyons-Ruth, 2005) têm também sido registadas em estudos envolvendo populações de risco.…”

Culture, gender, and the first memories of black and white American students

“…McAdoo (1988) hypothesizes that girls are being prepared for the eventual role of caretaker of themselves and their future families (McAdoo, 1988). Daughters are also more likely to be securely attached than sons (Barnett, Kidwell, & Leung, 1998), which may enhance the role of family relationships in identity development. A limiting factor is that the available studies of gender influences have examined only lowincome families, in which the pressures on developing girls and women are different than those found in middle-class families.…”

Parenting and attachment among low-income African American and Caucasian preschoolers.

“…These outcomes include greater sociability (Clarke-Stewart, 1973), self-regulatory skills (Davidov & Grusec, 2006), prosocial behavior (Eisenberg & Valiente, 2002), and overall emotional and social competence (Denham, Mitchell-Copeland, Strandberg, Auerbach, & Blair 1997). For this reason, a growing focus of research has been on investigating the relations between parenting practices and attachment, particularly during the preschool years (Anan & Barnett, 1999;Barnett et al, 1998).…”

“…This prompted a handful of researchers to assess the validity of attachment in African American families using the Strange Situation paradigm (Anan & Barnett, 1999;Barnett et al, 1998;Candelaria, Teti, & Black, 2011) or Attachment Q-sort in comparative studies with African American and Caucasian children (Bakermans-Kranenberg, van IJzendoorn, & Kroonenberg, 2004). The results of these studies supported the validity of attachment theory and measures in this racial group.…”