Admissibility of attachment theory, research and assessments in child custody decision-making? Yes and No!

Attachment Style and Sexual Risk Behaviors among American Indians Raised in Stepfamilies

American Indian youth and emerging adults are disproportionately susceptible to risky sexual behavior. Several studies have examined the relationship between American Indians and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by examining sexual risk behaviors. However, few studies have explored sexual risk behaviors through the lens of attachment theory. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between sexual risk behaviors and attachment style among American Indian emerging adults who were raised in stepfamilies. A structural equation model was used to examine the relationship between the latent variables, anxious and avoidant attachment style, and the dependent variable of sexual risk behavior. This study found a significant association between sexual risk behaviors and (a) anxious attachment style, (b) income, and (c) gender. This study yields important findings about the nature of sexual risk behavior and STI development among American Indians raised in stepfamilies and prompts further study into the development of attachment relationships and additional considerations that may influence sexual risk behavior among this population.

Expert reports: an empirical study of the use of attachment theory in expert assessments in Norwegian child protection cases

Acknowledged researchers have highlighted the potential pitfalls of using attachment theory to guide decision-making in child protection (CP) cases. This study explores how attachment theory is applied in expert assessments in Norwegian CP decision-making processes, analyzing 285 independent expert reports. Independent experts were mandated to assess the child's attachment quality to the caregiver in one third of the reports. In almost two thirds of the reports, experts weighted the child's attachment quality to the caregiver in their concluding evaluation. Few expert assessments included the employment of attachment measures. When descriptively comparing older and newer reports, there were more newer reports that mandated the experts to assess the child's attachment quality, but fewer newer reports where the experts weighted the child's attachment quality in the concluding evaluation. Our results illustrate that the criticism of an overconfindent use of attachment theory is also relevant for independet expert assessment in CP cases.

Concepts travel faster than thought: an empirical study of the use of attachment classifications in child protection investigations

Scholarly discussion suggests prevalent, overconfident use of attachment classifications in child protection (CP) investigations but no systematic research has examined actual prevalence, the methods used to derive such classifications, or their interpretations. We aimed to cover this gap using survey data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish CP workers (N = 191). Three key findings emerged. First, the vast majority formed an opinion about young children's attachment quality in all or most investigations. Second, most did not employ systematic assessments, and none employed well-validated attachment methods. Third, there was overconfidence in the perceived implications of attachment classifications. For example, many believed that insecure attachment is a valid indicator of insufficient care. Our findings illustrate a wide researcher-practitioner gap. This gap is presumably due to inherent difficulties translating group-based research to the level of the individual, poor dissemination of attachment theory and research, and infrastructural pressures adversely influencing the quality of CP investigations.