Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T02:46:47.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

25 - Infant Attachment (to Mother and Father) and Its Place in Human Development

Five Decades of Promising Research (and an Unsettled Issue)

from Part VI - Emotional and Social Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2020

By
Or Dagan  and
Abraham Sagi-Schwartz
Edited by
Jeffrey J. Lockman  and
Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
Jeffrey J. Lockman
Affiliation:
Tulane University, Louisiana
Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
Affiliation:
New York University
Get access

Summary

“There are few blows to the human spirit so great as the loss of someone near and dear,” wrote Bowlby in one of many groundbreaking papers.

Keywords

Attachment theoryinfant-caregiver attachmentStrange Situation Procedure (SSP)secure attachmentinsecure attachmentHPA axisstress and attachmentculture and attachmentmultiple caregivers and attachmentfather attachmentchild maltreatment and attachment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development
Brain, Behavior, and Cultural Context
 , pp. 687 - 714
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahnert, L., Pinquart, M., & Lamb, M. E. (2006). Security of children’s relationships with nonparental care providers: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 74(3), 664–679. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00896.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, S., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Aviezer, O., Sagi, A., Resnick, G., & Gini, M. (2002). School competence in young adolescence: Links to early attachment relationships beyond concurrent self-perceived competence and representations of relationships. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(5), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250143000328Google Scholar
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2009). The first 10,000 adult attachment interviews: Distributions of adult attachment representations in clinical and non-clinical groups. Attachment & Human Development, 11(3), 223–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730902814762CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., (2016). Attachment, parenting, and genetics. In Cassidy, P., Shaver, J (Ed.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 155–179). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Juffer, F. (2003). Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 195–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.195Google Scholar
Belsky, J. (1981). Early human experience: A family perspective. Developmental Psychology, 17(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.17.1.3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J. (2002). Developmental origins of attachment styles. Attachment and Human Development, 4(2), 166–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461673021015751Google Scholar
Berlin, L. J., Zeanah, C. H., & Lieberman, A. F. (2016). Prevention and intervention programs for supporting early attachment security: A move to the level of the community. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 739–758). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Bernard, K., Butzin-Dozier, Z., Rittenhouse, J., & Dozier, M. (2010). Cortisol production patterns in young children living with birth parents vs children placed in foster care following involvement of child protective services. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 164(5), 438–43. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.54CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernard, K., & Dozier, M. (2010). Examining infants’ cortisol responses to laboratory tasks among children varying in attachment disorganization: Stress reactivity or return to baseline? Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1771–1778. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020660Google Scholar
Bernard, K., Dozier, M., Bick, J., & Gordon, M. K. (2015). Intervening to enhance cortisol regulation among children at risk for neglect: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Development and Psychopathology, 27(3), 829–841. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941400073XGoogle Scholar
Bernard, K., Hostinar, C. E., & Dozier, M. (2014). Intervention effects on diurnal cortisol rhythms of child protective services-referred infants in early childhood: Preschool follow-up results of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(2), 112–119. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.2369wCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bokhorst, C. L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Fearon, R. M. P., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Fonagy, P., & Schuengel, C. (2003). The importance of shared environment in mother–infant attachment security: A behavioral genetic study. Child Development, 74(6), 1769–1782. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00637.xGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1953). Child care and the growth of love. Baltimore, MD: Pelican Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1: Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss. Vol. 2: Separation. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Vol. 3: Loss, sadness and depression. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52(4), 664–678. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1982.tb01456.xGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent–child attachment and healthy human development. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 3–35. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/10.2307/3333824Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1991). Pouring new wine into old bottles: The social self as internal working model. In Gunnar, M. R. & Sroufe, L. A. (Eds.), Minnesota symposia in child psychology: Self processes in development (pp. 1–41). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (2010). Fathers in attachment theory and research: A review. Early Child Development and Care, 180(1/2), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430903414661CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruce, J., Fisher, P. A., Pears, K. C., & Levine, S. (2009). Morning cortisol levels in preschool-aged foster children: Differential effects of maltreatment type. Developmental Psychobiology, 51(1), 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20333CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cabrera, N. J., Volling, B. L., & Barr, R. (2018). Fathers are parents, too! Widening the lens on parenting for children’s development. Child Development Perspectives, 12(3), 152–157. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12275Google Scholar
Callaghan, B. L., & Tottenham, N. (2016a). The neuro-environmental loop of plasticity: A cross-species analysis of parental effects on emotion circuitry development following typical and adverse caregiving. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(1), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.204Google Scholar
Callaghan, B. L., (2016b). The stress acceleration hypothesis: Effects of early-life adversity on emotion circuits and behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 7, 76–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.11.018CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, M., & Earls, F. (1997). Psychological and neuroendocrinological sequelae of early social deprivation in institutionalized children in Romania. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 807, 419–28.Google Scholar
Casement, M. D., Guyer, A. E., Hipwell, A. E., McAloon, R. L., Hoffmann, A. M., Keenan, K. E., & Forbes, E. E. (2014). Girls’ challenging social experiences in early adolescence predict neural response to rewards and depressive symptoms. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 8, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2013.12.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cassidy, J., & Berlin, L. J. (1994). The insecure/ambivalent pattern of attachment: Theory and research. Child Development, 65(4), 971–991. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131298CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cassidy, J., Jones, J. D., & Shaver, P. R. (2013). Contributions of attachment theory and research: A framework for future research, translation, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 1415–1434. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579413000692CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cassidy, J., & Kobak, R. (1988). Avoidance and its relation to other defensive processes. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment theory (pp. 300–323). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Coan, J. A. (2016). Toward a neuroscience of attachment. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 242–269). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. B. (2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion. Biological Psychology, 67(1–2), 7–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.03.002Google Scholar
Conger, R. D., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). An interactionist perspective on the socioeconomic context of human development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58(1), 175–199. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085551CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cyr, C., Euser, E. M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2010). Attachment security and disorganization in maltreating and high-risk families: A series of meta-analyses. Development and Psychopathology, 22(1), 87–108. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409990289Google Scholar
Dagan, O., & Sagi-Schwartz, A. (2018). Early attachment network with mother and father: An unsettled issue. Child Development Perspectives, 12(2), 115–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12272Google Scholar
Dobrova-Krol, N. A., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Juffer, F. (2010). The importance of quality of care: Effects of perinatal HIV infection and early institutional rearing on preschoolers’ attachment and indiscriminate friendliness. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 51(12), 1368–1376. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02243.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dozier, M., Kaufman, J., Kobak, R., O’Connor, T. G., Sagi-Schwartz, A., Scott, S., … Zeanah, C. H. (2014). Consensus statement on group care for children and adolescents: A statement of policy of the American Orthopsychiatric Association. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(3), 219–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000005Google Scholar
Dozier, M., Meade, E. B., & Bernard, K. (2014). Attachment and biobehavioral catch-up: An intervention for parents at risk of maltreating their infants and toddlers. In Timmer, S. & Urquiza, A. (Eds.), Evidence-based approaches for the treatment of child maltreatment (pp. 43–59). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Dozier, M., Zeanah, C. H., Wallin, A. R., & Shauffer, C. (2012). Institutional care for young children: Review of literature and policy implications. Social Issues and Policy Review, 6(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2011.01033.x.InstitutionalGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., & Goldberg, W. A. (1984). Toddler development in the family: Impact of father involvement and parenting characteristics. Child Development, 55(3), 740–52. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130126Google Scholar
Emmen, R. A. G., Malda, M., Mesman, J., Ekmekci, H., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2012). Sensitive parenting as a cross-cultural ideal: Sensitivity beliefs of Dutch, Moroccan, and Turkish mothers in the Netherlands. Attachment and Human Development, 14(6), 601–619. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2012.727258CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fabricius, W. V., & Luecken, L. J. (2007). Post-divorce living arrangements, parent conflict, and long-term physical health correlates for children of divorce. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-018-3024-8Google Scholar
Facompré, C. R., Bernard, K., & Waters, T. E. A. (2017). Effectiveness of interventions in preventing disorganized attachment: A meta-analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 30(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000426Google Scholar
Fearon, R. M. P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Lapsley, A. -M., & Roisman, G. I. (2010). The significance of insecure attachment and disorganization in the development of children’s externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study. Child Development, 81(2), 435–456. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01405.xGoogle Scholar
Fearon, R. M. P., & Belsky, J. (2016). Precursors of attachment security. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 291–313). New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Fearon, R. M. P., & Roisman, G. I. (2017). Attachment theory: Progress and future directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.002Google Scholar
Fearon, R. M. P., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Fonagy, P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Schuengel, C., & Bokhorst, C. L. (2006). In search of shared and nonshared environmental factors in security of attachment: A behavior-genetic study of the association between sensitivity and attachment security. Developmental Psychology, 42(6), 1026–1040. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1026Google Scholar
Feeney, J. A. (2008). Adult romantic attachment: Developments in the study of couple relationship. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 456–481). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Finerman, R. (1995). “Parental incompetence” and “selective neglect”: Blaming the victim in child survival. Social Science and Medicine, 40(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(94)00122-AGoogle Scholar
Fisher, P. A., Gunnar, M. R., Dozier, M., Bruce, J., & Pears, K. C. (2006). Effects of therapeutic interventions for foster children on behavioral problems, caregiver attachment, and stress regulatory neural systems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 215–225. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1376.023CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gee, D. G., Gabard-Durnam, L. J., Flannery, J., Goff, B., Humphreys, K. L., Telzer, E. H., … Tottenham, N. (2013). Early developmental emergence of human amygdala-prefrontal connectivity after maternal deprivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(39), 15638–15643. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1307893110/-/DCSupplemental.www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1307893110Google Scholar
Gee, D. G., Gabard-Durnam, L., Telzer, E. H., Humphreys, K. L., Goff, B., Shapiro, M., … Caldera, C. (2014). Maternal buffering of human amygdala-prefrontal circuitry during childhood but not during adolescence. Psychological Science, 25(11), 2067–2078. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614550878.MaternalCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gojman, S., Millán, S., Carlson, E., Sánchez, G., Rodarte, A., González, P., & Hernández, G. (2012). Intergenerational relations of attachment: A research synthesis of urban/rural Mexican samples. Attachment & Human Development, 14(6), 553–566. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2012.727255CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goossens, A., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1990). Quality of infants’ attachments to professional caregivers: Relation to infant–parent attachment and day-care characteristics. Child Development, 61(3), 832–837. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130967Google Scholar
Groh, A. M., Fearon, R. P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Steele, R. D., & Roisman, G. I. (2014). The significance of attachment security for children’s social competence with peers: A meta-analytic study. Attachment & Human Development, 16(2), 103–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2014.883636Google Scholar
Groh, A. M., Fearon, R. M. P., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Roisman, G. I. (2016). Attachment in the early life course: Meta-analytic evidence for its role in socioemotional development. Child Development Perspectives, 11(1), 70–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12213Google Scholar
Groh, A. M., Roisman, G. I., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Fearon, R. P. (2012). The significance of insecure and disorganized attachment for children’s internalizing symptoms: A meta-analytic study. Child Development, 83(2), 591–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01711.xGoogle Scholar
Grossmann, K., Grossmann, K. E., Fremmer-Bombik, E., Kindler, H., Scheuerer-Englisch, H., & Zimmermann, P. (2002). The uniqueness of the child–father attachment relationship: Fathers’ sensitive and challenging play as a pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study. Social Development, 11(3), 307–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–9507.00202Google Scholar
Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., Huber, F., & Wartner, U. (1981). German children’s behavior towards their mothers at 12 months and their fathers at 18 months in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 4, 157–181.Google Scholar
Gunnar, M. R., & Hostinar, C. E. (2015). The social buffering of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in humans: Developmental and experiential determinants. Social Neuroscience, 10(5), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2015.1070747Google Scholar
Gunnar, M. R., & Quevedo, K. (2007). The neurobiology of stress and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 145–173. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085605Google Scholar
Gunnar, M. R., & Vazquez, D. (2006). Stress neurobiology and developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Developmental neuroscience (pp. 533–577). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Hesse, E., & Main, M. (2006). Frightened, threatening, and dissociative parental behavior: Theory and associations with parental adult attachment interview status and infant disorganization. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 309–343. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579406060172Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., & Kelly, J. (2002). For better or for worse: Divorce reconsidered. New York, NY: Norton.Google Scholar
Holland, A. S., & Roisman, G. I. (2010). Adult attachment security and young adults’ dating relationships over time: Self-reported, observational, and physiological evidence. Developmental Psychology, 46(2), 552–557. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018542Google Scholar
Huang, Z. J., Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., & Zhang, J. (2012). Variations in the relationship between maternal depression, maternal sensitivity, and child attachment by race/ethnicity and nativity: Findings from a nationally representative Cohort study. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0716-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jin, M. K., Jacobvitz, D., Hazen, N., & Jung, S. H. (2012). Maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security in Korea: Cross-cultural validation of the strange situation. Attachment & Human Development, 14(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2012.636656Google Scholar
Johansen, J. P., Cain, C. K., Ostroff, L. E., & LeDoux, J. E. (2011). Molecular mechanisms of fear learning and Mmemory. Cell, 147(3), 509–524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2011.10.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kärtner, J., Keller, H., & Yovsi, R. D. (2010). Mother–infant interaction during the first 3 months: The emergence of culture-specific contingency patterns. Child Development, 81(2), 540–554. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01414.xGoogle Scholar
Keller, H., Borke, J., Staufenbiel, T., Yovsi, R. D., Abels, M., Papaligoura, Z., … Su, Y. (2009). Distal and proximal parenting as alternative parenting strategies during infants’ early months of life: A cross-cultural study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(5), 412–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025409338441Google Scholar
Kelly, J. B. (2012). Risk and protective factors associated with child and adolescent adjustment following separation and divorce: Social science applications. In Kuehnle, K. & Drozd, L. (Eds.), Parenting plan evaluations: Applied research for the family courts (pp. 49–84). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kermoian, R., & Leiderman, P. H. (1986). Infant attachment to mother and child caretaker in an East African community. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 9(4), 455–469.Google Scholar
Kochanska, G., & Kim, S. (2013). Early attachment organization with both parents and future behavior problems: From infancy to middle childhood. Child Development, 84(1), 283–296. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01852.xGoogle Scholar
Kolb, B., Mychasiuk, R., Muhammad, A., Li, Y., Frost, D. O., & Gibb, R. (2012). Experience and the developing prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(Suppl. 2), 17186–17193. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1121251109Google Scholar
Lamb, M. E., Sternberg, K. J., & Thompson, R. A. (1997). The effects of divorce and custody arrangements on children’s behavior, development, and adjustment. Family and Conciliation Courts Review, 35(4), 393–404.Google Scholar
Larson, M. C., White, B. P., Cochran, A., Donzella, B., & Gunnar, M. (1998). Dampening of the cortisol response to handling at 3 months in human infants and its relation to sleep, circadian cortisol activity, and behavioral distress. Developmental Psychobiology, 33(4), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098–2302(199812)33:4<327::AID-DEV4>3.0.CO;2-SGoogle Scholar
Love, J., Harrison, L., Sagi-Schwartz, A., van IJzendoorn, M., Ross, C., Ungerer, J., … Chazan-Cohen, R. (2003). Child care quality matters: How conclusions may vary with context. Child Development, 74(4), 1021–1033. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00584Google Scholar
Luijk, M. P. C., Roisman, G. I., Haltigan, J. D., Henning, T., Booth-LaForce, C., van IJzendoorn, M. H., … Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012). Dopaminergic, serotonergic, and oxytonergic candidate genes associated with infant attachment security and disorganization? In search of main and interaction effects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(12), 1295–1307. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02440.xGoogle Scholar
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 434–445. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2639Google Scholar
Lupien, S. J., Parent, S., Evans, A. C., Tremblay, R. E., David, P., & Corbo, V. (2011). Larger amygdala but no change in hippocampal volume in 10-year-old children exposed to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(34), 14324–14329. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1105371108/-/DCSupplemental.www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1105371108Google Scholar
Lyons-Ruth, K., Pechtel, P., Yoon, S. A., Anderson, C. M., & Teicher, M. H. (2016). Disorganized attachment in infancy predicts greater amygdala volume in adulthood. Behavioural Brain Research, 308, 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.050Google Scholar
Main, M. (1981). Avoidance in the service of attachment: A working paper. In Immelman, K., Barlow, G., Petrinovich, L., & Main, M. (Eds.), Behavioral development: The Bielfeld interdisciplinary project (pp. 651–693). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Main, M. (2000). The organized categories of infant, child, and adult attachment: Flexible vs. inflexible attention under attachment-related stress. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48(4), 1055–1096; discussion 1175–1187. https://doi.org/10.1177/00030651000480041801Google Scholar
Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 66–104. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/10.2307/3333827Google Scholar
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying disorganized/disoriented infants during the Ainsworth strange situation. In Greenberg, M., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 121–160). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Weston, D. R. (1981). The quality of the toddler’s relationship to mother and to father: Related to conflict behavior and the readiness to establish new relationships. Child Development, 52(3), 932–940.Google Scholar
Marvin, R. S., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., & Powell, B. (2002). The circle of security project: Attachment-based intervention with caregiver-pre-school child dyads. Attachment & Human Development, 4(1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730252982491Google Scholar
Marvin, R. S., VanDevender, T. L., Iwanaga, M. I., LeVine, S., & LeVine, R. A. (1977). Infant–caregiver attachment among the Hausa of Nigeria. In McGurk, H. (Ed.), Ecological factors in human development (pp. 247–259). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
McIntosh, J. E. (2011). Guest editor’s introduction to special issue on attachment theory, separation, and divorce: Forging coherent understandings for family law. Family Court Review, 49(3), 418–846. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1617.2011.01382.xGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A., Zeanah, C. H., Fox, N. A., & Nelson, C. A. (2012). Attachment security as a mechanism linking foster care placement to improved mental health outcomes in previously institutionalized children. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 53(1), 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02437.x.AttachmentGoogle Scholar
Mehta, N., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2009). Working models of attachment to parents and partners: Implications for emotional behavior between partners. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(6), 895–899. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016479Google Scholar
Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M., Behrens, K., Carbonell, O. A., Cárcamo, R., Cohen-Paraira, I., … Zreik, G. (2016). Is the ideal mother a sensitive mother? Beliefs about early childhood parenting in mothers across the globe. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40(5), 385–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415594030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Sagi-Schwartz, A. (2016). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 790–815). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). An attachment perspective on psychopathology. World Psychiatry, 11(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/14498-005Google Scholar
Moutsiana, C., Fearon, P., Murray, L., Cooper, P., Goodyer, I., Johnstone, T., & Halligan, S. (2014). Making an effort to feel positive: Insecure attachment in infancy predicts the neural underpinnings of emotion regulation in adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 55(9), 999–1008. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12198Google Scholar
Moutsiana, C., Johnstone, T., Murray, L., Fearon, P., Cooper, P. J., Pliatsikas, C., … Halligan, S. L. (2015). Insecure attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volumes in early adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 56(5), 540–548. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12317Google Scholar
Nelson, C. A., Fox, N. A., & Zeanah, C. H. (2014). Romania’s abandoned children: Deprivation, brain development, and the struggle for recovery. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, C. A., III, Bos, K., Gunnar, M. R., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2011). The neurobiological toll of early human deprivation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 76(4), 127–146. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1249749.RibosomeGoogle Scholar
O’Connor, T. G., & Croft, C. M. (2001). A twin study of attachment in preschool children. Child Development, 72(5), 1501–1511. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00362Google Scholar
Pendry, P., & Adam, E. K. (2007). Associations between parents’ marital functioning, maternal parenting quality, maternal emotion and child cortisol levels. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(3), 218–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025407074634Google Scholar
Perry, R. E., Blair, C., & Sullivan, R. M. (2017). Neurobiology of infant attachment: Attachment despite adversity and parental programming of emotionality. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 1–6. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.022Google Scholar
Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (2000). The internal working models concept: What do we really know about the self in relation to others? Review of General Psychology, 4(2), 155–175. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.155Google Scholar
Pietromonaco, P. R., & Power, S. I. (2015). Attachment and health-related physiological stress processes. Current Opinion in Psychology, 1, 34–39. https://doi.org/10.1038/jid.2014.371Google Scholar
Quevedo, K., Waters, T. E. A., Scott, H., Roisman, G. I., Shaw, D. S., & Forbes, E. E. (2017). Brain activity and infant attachment history in young men during loss and reward processing. Development and Psychopathology, 29(2), 465–476. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000116Google Scholar
Raby, K. L., & Dozier, M. (2018). Attachment across the lifespan: Insights from adoptive families. Current Opinion in Psychology, 25, 81–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.03.011Google Scholar
Ray, R. D., & Zald, D. H. (2012). Anatomical insights into the interaction of emotion and cognition in the prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(1), 479–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.08.005Google Scholar
Robila, M. (Ed.). (2014). Handbook of family policies across the globe. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Roisman, G. I. (2006). The role of adult attachment security in non-romantic, non-attachment-related first interactions between same-sex strangers. Attachment & Human Development, 8(4), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730601048217Google Scholar
Roisman, G. I., & Fraley, R. C. (2008). A behavior-genetic study of parenting quality, infant attachment security, and their covariation in a nationally representative sample. Developmental Psychology, 44(3), 831–839. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.831Google Scholar
Roisman, G. I., Susman, E., Barnett-Walker, K., Booth-LaForce, C., Owen, M. T., Belsky, J., … NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2009). Early family and child-care antecedents of awakening cortisol levels in adolescence. Child Development, 80(3), 907–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01305.xGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Colvert, E., Kreppner, J., Mehta, M., … Sonuga-Barke, E. (2007). Effects of profound early institutional deprivation: An overview of findings from a UK longitudinal study of Romanian adoptees. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4(3), 332–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620701401846Google Scholar
Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Aviezer, O. (2005). Correlates of attachment to multiple caregivers in kibbutz children from birth to emerging adulthood: The Haifa longitudinal study. In Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., & Waters, E. (Eds.), Attachment from infancy to adulthood (pp. 165–197). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Sagi-Schwartz, A., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Aviezer, O., Donnell, F., Koren-Karie, N., Joels, T., & Harel, Y. (1995). Attachments in a multiple-caregiver and multiple-infant environment: The case of the Israeli kibbutzim. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60(2/3), 71–91.Google Scholar
Sagi, A., Koren-Karie, N., Gini, M., Ziv, Y., & Joels, T. (2002). Shedding further light on the effects of various types and quality of early child care on infant–mother attachment relationship: The Haifa study of early child care. Child Development, 73(4), 1166–1186. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00465Google Scholar
Schieche, M., & Spangler, G. (2005). Individual differences in biobehavioral organization during problem-solving in toddlers: The influence of maternal behavior, infant-mother attachment, and behavioral inhibition on the attachment-exploration balance. Developmental Psychobiology, 46(4), 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20065Google Scholar
Schuengel, C., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1999). Frightening maternal behavior linking unresolved loss and disorganized infant attachment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(1), 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646839808404575Google Scholar
Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., Garner, A. S., … Wood, D. L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011–2663Google Scholar
Simpson, J. A., & Belsky, J. (2016). Attachment theory within a modern evolutionary framework. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 91–116). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Slopen, N., McLaughlin, K. A., & Shonkoff, J. P. (2010). Interventions to improve cortisol regulation in children: A systematic review. Pediatrics, 133(2), 312–326. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-1632Google Scholar
Smyke, A. T., Zeanah, C. H., Fox, N. A., Nelson, C. A., & Guthrie, D. (2010). Placement in foster care enhances attachment among young children in institutions. Child Development, 81(1), 212–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01390.xGoogle Scholar
Spangler, G., & Grossmann, K. E. (1993). Biobehavioral organization in securely and insecurely attached infants. Child Development, 64(5), 1439–1450. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–8624.1993.tb02962.xGoogle Scholar
Spangler, G., & Schieche, M. (1998). Emotional and adrenocortical responses of infants to the Strange Situation: The differential function of emotional expression. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22, 681–706. https://doi.org/10.1080/016502598384126Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48(4), 1184. https://doi.org/10.2307/1128475Google Scholar
Steele, H., & Steele, M. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of attachment-based interventions. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Suess, G. J., Grossmann, K. E., & Sroufe, L. (1992). Effects of infant attachment to mother and father on quality of adaptation in preschool: From dyadic to individual organisation of self. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 15(1), 43–65.Google Scholar
Tang, A. C., Reeb-Sutherland, B. C., Romeo, R. D., & McEwen, B. S. (2014). On the causes of early life experience effects: Evaluating the role of mom. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 35(2), 245–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2013.11.002Google Scholar
Thompson, R. A. (2000). The legacy of early attachments. Child Development, 71(1), 145–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00128Google Scholar
Thompson, R. A., & Raikes, H. A. (2003). Toward the next quarter-century: Conceptual and methodological challenges for attachment theory. Special Issue: Conceptual, Methodological, and Statistical Issues in Developmental Psychopathology: A Special Issue in Honor of Paul E. Meehl, 15(3), 691–718. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579403000348Google ScholarPubMed
Tottenham, N. (2014). The importance of early experiences for neuro-affective development. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 16, 109–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2013_254Google Scholar
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., Millner, A., Gilhooly, T., Zevin, J. D., & Casey, B. J. (2011). Elevated amygdala response to faces following early deprivation. Developmental Science, 14(2), 190–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00971.xGoogle Scholar
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., Quinn, B. T., McCarry, T. W., Nurse, M., Gilhooly, T., … Casey, B. J. (2010). Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation. Developmental Science, 13(1), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00852.xGoogle Scholar
Tottenham, N., Shapiro, M., Telzer, E. H., & Humphreys, K. L. (2012). Amygdala response to mother. Developmental Science, 15(3), 307–319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01128.xGoogle Scholar
True, M. M., Pisani, L., & Oumar, F. (2001). Infant-mother attachment among the Dogon of Mali. Child Development, 72(5), 1451–1466. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00359Google Scholar
Valenzuela, M. (1997). Maternal sensitivity in a developing society: The context of urban poverty and infant chronic undernutrition. Developmental Psychology, 33(5), 845–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.33.5.845Google Scholar
van Bakel, H. J. A., & Riksen-Walraven, J. M. (2004). Stress reactivity in 15-month-old infants: Links with infant temperament, cognitive competence, and attachment security. Developmental Psychobiology, 44(3), 157–167. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20001Google Scholar
van den Dries, L., Juffer, F., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2009). Fostering security? A meta-analysis of attachment in adopted children. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(3), 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.09.008Google Scholar
van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1990). Developments in cross-cultural research on attachment: Some methodological notes. Human Development, 33(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/10.1159/000276498Google Scholar
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Sagi, A., & Lambermon, M. W. E. (1992). The multiple caretaker paradox: Data from Holland and Israel. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 57, 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219925703CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Vereijken, C. M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Riksen-Walraven, J. M. (2004). Assessing attachment security with the Attachment Q-sort: Meta-analytic evidence for the validity of the observer AQS. Child Development, 75(4), 1188–1213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vantieghem, M. R., Gabard-Durnam, L., Goff, B., Flannery, J., Humphreys, K. L., Telzer, E. H., … Tottenham, N. (2017). Positive valence bias and parent–child relationship security moderate the association between early institutional caregiving and internalizing symptoms. Development and Psychopathology, 29(2), 519–533. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000153Google Scholar
Warshak, R. A. (2014). Social science and parenting plans for young children: A consensus report. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000005Google Scholar
Warshak, R. A., & Santrock, J. W. (1983). The impact of divorce in father-custody and mother-custody homes: The child’s perspective. In Kurdek, L. A. (Ed.), Children and divorce (pp. 29–46). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Waters, E., & Deane, K. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual differences in attachment relationships: Q-methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 41–65. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/10.2307/3333826Google Scholar
Zeanah, C. H., & Gleason, M. M. (2015). Annual research review: Attachment disorders in early childhood – clinical presentation, causes, correlates, and treatment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 56(3), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12347Google Scholar
Zeanah, C. H., Smyke, A. T., & Dumitrescu, A. (2002). Attachment disturbances in young children. II: Indiscriminate behavior and institutional care. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(8), 983–989. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200208000-00017Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×