Title

The Continuity of Attachment Development from Infancy to Toddlerhood: The Role of Maternal Sensitivity

Authors

Ya F. Xue, University of Western OntarioFollow
Greg Moran, University of Western OntarioFollow
David R. Pederson, University of Western OntarioFollow
Sandi Bento, University of Western OntarioFollow

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

3-2010

Abstract

The patterns of attachment between infants and mothers have far-reaching consequences for infants’ development; infants with secure attachments fare better socially and emotionally than those with non-secure attachments (Deklyen & Greenberg,2008).

Theory suggests that differences in attachment quality result from differences in mother-child interactions: secure attachment results from a history of sensitive interactions and non-secure attachment from insensitive interaction.

Since the attachment security is held to be a product of the quality of interactions; a change in the quality of interactions should theoretically lead to a change in attachment quality. Thus, a child in a secure relationship later encountering insensitive care should tend towards a non-secure relationship, and vice versa.

Notes

Poster presentation at the International Conference on Infant Studies in Baltimore, MD in March 2010