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Predicting social adjustment in middle childhood: the role of preschool attachment security and maternal style
Author(s) -
Booth Cathryn L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9507.1994.tb00040.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , style (visual arts) , attachment theory , early childhood , archaeology , history
Children's social and emotional adjustment at age 8 were examined in relation to attachment security, parenting style, setting conditions, and social and emotional adjustment at age 4. Seventy‐nine children participated in videotaped interaction sessions with their mothers and with unfamiliar peers at the two ages. Data were derived from videotape coding, mother questionnaires, and child sociometric ratings. Results indicted that internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and social engagement were related at the two ages. After removing the variance due to the relationship between child behaviors at the two ages, a comparison of mother‐child relationship predictors indicated that attachment security at age 4 was the strongest predictor of internalizing problems and social engagement/acceptance at age 8, while maternal style was the strongest predictor of externalizing difficulties. Results point to the importance of both aspects of the mother‐child relationship, and indicate that the nature of family and peer links may vary depending upon the specific social domain assessed.