Early Attachment to Mothers and Fathers: Contributions to Preschoolers' Emotional Regulation

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the attachment insecurity screening inventory 2-5 years: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND

Secure attachment bonds between children and their parents are crucial for their positive developmental outcomes. In attachment-based treatment, there are few instruments available for identifying insecure child-caregivers attachment connection, particularly in terms of primary caregiver's perceptions. This perspective is an important clinical component to consider in parenting therapies for preschool children. This main goal of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory 2-5 Years (hereafter referred to as AISI 2-5 years), a parent-report questionnaire designed for assessing attachment insecurity in children aged 2 to 5 years.

METHODS

The AISI 2-5 years underwent rigorous translation and back-translation processes. The sample comprised 486 preschoolers (Mage = 47.83 months, SD = 8.58; 49.79% girls) and their mothers (Mage = 36.30 years, SD = 3.82) from Shanghai, China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to explore internal structure, while Cronbach's alphas were utilized to evaluate score reliability.

RESULTS

The findings revealed a three-factor model, encompassing avoidant attachment, disorganized attachment, and ambivalent/resistant attachment, which demonstrated a good fit for the 18-item AISI 2-5 years. Additionally, these findings demonstrated sufficient internal consistency, reliability, and convergent validity. Consequently, the AISI 2-5 years proves suitable for assessing attachment insecurity among Chinese preschoolers.

CONCLUSION

The results contribute to the advancement of research on children's insecure attachment within the Chinese context. Furthermore, future research is needed to replicate the present findings and enhance the proof supporting the appropriateness of the AISI 2-5 years for preschoolers in China. This will demonstrate its utility in evaluating parents' perception of their children's attachment insecurity.

Child-father and child-mother attachment relationships in naturalistic settings

This study examines paternal and maternal sensitivity as predictors of toddlers' attachment security in two naturalistic contexts. Seventy-three mostly White middle-class families participated between 2015 and 2019 when children (49.3% girls) were approximately 29.48 months old. Each child-parent dyad completed a home and playground visit. Findings revealed paternal and maternal sensitivity were significantly associated at home and marginally at the playground. Paternal sensitivity was only predictive of security to the father at the playground, showing a medium effect, while small effects of maternal sensitivity on security to the mother were found in both contexts. Cross-parent contributions to security were small and limited to the playground. The need to consider the greater ecology of child-parent relationships and suggestions for larger-scale research are discussed.

The Indirect Effects of Fathers' Parenting Style and Parent Emotion Regulation on the Relationship Between Father Self-Efficacy and Children's Mental Health Difficulties

Improving parental self-efficacy has been linked with reductions in child mental health difficulties; however, underlying mechanisms remain unclear, especially for fathers. This study investigated whether father self-efficacy influences child mental health difficulties indirectly through parenting style and parent-facilitated regulation of children's negative emotions. A community sample of American fathers (N = 350, M = 39.45 years old) completed self-reports on father self-efficacy, parenting styles, parent-facilitated emotion regulation, and their children's mental health difficulties (aged 4-12). Path analysis was used to test a cross-sectional, parallel-sequential indirect effect model. Father self-efficacy had a significant indirect effect on child mental health difficulties via three significant pathways of permissive parenting, authoritative parenting-acceptance of child's negative emotions, and authoritarian parenting-avoidance of child's negative emotions. Our model explained a moderate amount of variance in child mental health difficulties. The findings support promoting father self-efficacy through parenting interventions and highlight parenting beliefs as important for clinicians providing child mental health care.

A systematic review of research examining mothers, infants, family and staff in psychiatric mother-baby units

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to summarise and synthesise research conducted in psychiatric mother-baby units (MBUs) in relation to patients, their families, or staff, published from 1st January 2016 to 1st May 2024.

METHOD

Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies were included for review if they were published in peer-review journals in English and reported research on MBUs between January 2016 and May 2024. From the initial yield of 10,007 unique studies, 53 studies were included for review.

RESULTS

MBU research was found to more frequently investigate maternal characteristics rather than the benefits of MBU treatment compared to studies conducted prior to 2016. Most studies that did investigate impact of admission showed favourable results, however few follow-up studies and studies comparing MBU outcomes to other clinical settings were undertaken. Little research has been conducted to investigate the differential impacts of MBU admission on different diagnoses and long-term (>1 year) patient outcomes. There was a dearth of research investigating partners of women in MBUs and few studies conducted on infant outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

MBUs were consistently found to improve mental health systems and mother-infant attachment in patients after admission. More research investigating patient support networks and child health, impact of diagnosis on outcomes, and studies with adequate follow-up are required.

The Impact of Insecure Attachment on Emotional Dependence on a Partner: The Mediating Role of Negative Emotional Rejection

Previous evidence has demonstrated a relationship between insecure attachment and the development of emotional dependence towards an individual's partner. However, the possibility that this relationship may be indirect and mediated by individual factors such as difficulties in emotional regulation has not previously been explored. Consequently, the objectives of the present study were to analyze the (i) differences in emotional dependence on an individual's partner and difficulties in emotional regulation capacity according to secure, preoccupied or dismissing attachment style and (ii) mediating role of difficulties in emotional regulation in the relationship between both insecure attachment styles and emotional dependence on an individual's partner. The sample comprised 741 participants ranging in age from 18 to 30 years (M = 21.32, SD = 2.93). The mediations were tested with linear regressions with the macro PROCESS v4.0. The results showed that emotional dependence on a partner and difficulties in emotional regulation were greater among individuals who had developed a dismissing attachment compared those with secure or preoccupied attachment. Likewise, the mediation model confirmed the mediating role of difficulties in the capacity for emotional regulation in the relationship between dismissing attachment and emotional dependence, with rejection of negative or discomfort-generating emotions predominating. The findings provide preliminary evidence that rejection of negative emotional experiences may play an important role in the relationship between insecure dismissing attachment style and emotional dependence on an individual's partner. Consequently, it is recommended that emotional dependence intervention programs include of the management of intolerance to negative emotions.

Relation between Attachment and Obesity in Preschool Years: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Increasing evidence suggests that attachment plays an important role in obesity. However, few studies examined this relationship in preschool children. This study aimed to systematically examine the empirical, peer-reviewed evidence regarding the relationship between attachment quality and obesity in the preschool years. Using established guidelines, relevant peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and July 2021 was searched through EBSCO. This yielded a total of 1124 records for review. Established inclusion criteria comprised: empirical studies published in peer-review journals; include at least one anthropometric measure and/or food consumption measure. Exclusion criteria comprised: attachment measures not following Bowlby-Ainsworth conceptualization of the construct; children in institutionalized settings; context of severe mental illness, documented substance use disorders, or eating disorders; include only a measure of the psychological aspects of eating; intervention programs. After exclusions, eight studies with a total of 9225 participants met the inclusion criteria. Results support the role of attachment in weight-related outcomes, suggesting that considering attachment in the risk of obesity could contribute to the elaboration of effective prevention and intervention programs. Limitations included the small number of studies, predominately cross-sectional designs, the diversity of methodologies, most samples not including fathers, and lack of evidence about the developmental mechanisms underlying the association between attachment and obesity. More evidence is needed to determine how attachment and obesity are linked, and the potential underlying mechanisms accounting for this relationship.