The quality of the maternal communication plays a critical role in the development of secure infant-caregiver attachment. This relationship may be mediated by the caregivers' capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to the child's mental states (i.e., mind-mindedness). To specifically explore the role of mind-mindedness in the relationship…

Research has shown the importance of responsive caregiving for fostering positive development early in life; however, tools measuring these interactions are often impractical for larger scale intervention trials and in settings with resource constraints. The present study provides reliability and validity evidence from Sindh, Pakistan for a tool…

The first distribution of Chinese infant-mother (n = 61) attachment classifications categorised by trained and reliability-tested coders is reported with statistical comparisons to US norms and previous Chinese distributions. Three-way distribution was 15% insecure-avoidant, 62% secure, 13% insecure-resistant, and 4-way distribution was 13%…

The aim of the present study was to examine differences in emotion expression and emotion regulation in emotion-eliciting situations in early adolescence from a bio-psycho-social perspective, specifically investigating the influence of early mother-infant attachment and attachment disorganization on behavioural and adrenocortical responses. The…

This study assessed the links between maternal sleep and mothers' perceptions of their attachment relationship with their infant among women at risk for postpartum depression by virtue of having been depressed during pregnancy. Sixty-two mothers completed sleep diaries and questionnaires at 3 and 6 months postpartum. Regression analyses,…

People's response to stress depends to a large extent on their sense of perceived control over the situations they encounter. This longitudinal study of 136 children (70 girls) examined associations between attachment patterns and maternal sensitivity at 12 months of age, and perceived primary and secondary control at 11 years of age. Compared…

This article examines the quality of maternal mind-mindedness among adult and adolescent mothers, using an assessment of the appropriateness and emotional valence of maternal mind-related comments while interacting with their infants. Twenty-nine adult mothers and 69 adolescent mothers participated in two assessments with their 18-month-old…

The aim of this report was to investigate the associations between attachment state of mind, romantic attachment style, and indices of maternal functioning in two relational spheres: the mother-child relationship (i.e., maternal sensitivity and child attachment security) and the marital relationship (i.e., mothers' and their partners' marital…

This study examined the processes and predictors of change in maternal ratings of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and attachment security in 70 infant girls adopted from China at a mean age of 13.5 months. These children's mental and language development were also directly assessed. The adopted children were assessed within the first…

Social capital has traditionally been defined in terms of the amount of resources that one derives as a result of a diversity of interpersonal relationships. However, the quality of these relationships across development has not been examined as a contributor to social capital and few studies have examined the significance of various age-salient…

The aim of the present study was to demonstrate that mother avoidance in infants at the age of 12 months can be predicted by the infants' differential vocal engagement to mother versus a female stranger at the age of 3 months. Differential engagement in favor of the mother was supposed to relate to low future avoidance. The vocal behavior of 26…

This study investigates whether attachment quality at ages 1, 6 and 16 is related to autonomy and relatedness behavior in adolescence. In a follow-up of the Regensburg Longitudinal Study, forty-three 16-year-old adolescents and their mothers were assessed in a revealed differences task and a planning a vacation task. Attachment was assessed during…

Investigates the relationship between the infant's attachment to the mother and the mother's perception of support from the father. Mothers who receive positive support from fathers tend to have infants with secure attachment. (AS)

This study examined associations between infant-mother attachment, assessed using Ainsworth's Strange Situation at 12-months, and mother-child narrative co-construction in 110 Israeli mothers and their 71/2 year-old children to examine aspects of Bowlby's (1973) notion of "Goal-Corrected Partnerships". Narrative co-constructions were…

A separation-reunion paradigm and Ainsworth classification procedures were used to assess security of attachment of Kenyan Gusii infants to mothers and caretakers. Correlates of attachment security were specific to mothers and caretakers, suggesting that the association between security of attachment and infant functioning in American studies…