Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Viewing Parent-Child Interactions Through the Lens of Attachment Theory

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Integrating Behaviorism and Attachment Theory in Parent Coaching

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Psychology ((BRIEFSCD))

Abstract

In this chapter, I describe parent-child interactions from the perspective of attachment theory. First, I review the development of attachment theory and phases in the development of infant-parent attachment. Second, I describe standardized behavioral assessments of the quality of infant-parent and child-parent attachment. Third, I describe positive parenting behaviors from an attachment perspective (i.e. parenting behaviors associated with secure attachment). Fourth, I describe evidence-based interventions based on attachment theory. Fifth, I describe research on internal working models of attachment in adults. Sixth, I describe interventions for adult attachment.

“The child who is attached to his mother, if he is secure in this attachment, does not need to maintain constant proximity or contact with her. He is content to move away, as long as he knows that she is there. He can even leave the room on his own initiative, and his aplomb in so doing is sometimes in sharp contrast to his consternation when his secure base gets up and moves off.” (Ainsworth 1967)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This is a fictional account written to illustrate an attachment view of parent-child interactions.

  2. 2.

    Dyads with a disorganized/secure attachment classification are considered insecurely attached, a confusing aspect of attachment nomenclature that has led Lyons-Ruth and Spielman (2004) to refer to this group as disorganized-approach.

References

  • Ainsworth, M. (1967). Infancy in Uganda. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, M. (1988). On security. http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/pdf/mda_security.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2014.

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van Ijzendoorn, M. (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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Juffer, F., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1998). Interventions with video feedback and attachment discussions: Does type of maternal insecurity make a difference? Infant Mental Health Journal, 19(2), 202–219.

    Article  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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Juffer, F. (2005). Disorganized infant attachment and preventive interventions: A review and meta-analysis. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26(3), 191–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Breddels-van Baardewijk, P., Juffer, F., Klein Velderman, M., & Van IJzendoorn, M. (2008a). Insecure mothers with temperamentally reactive infants: A chance for intervention. In F. Juffer, M. Bakermans-Kranenburg, & M. van Ijzendoorn (Eds.), Promoting positive parenting: An attachment-based intervention (pp. 75–90). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., van IJzendoorn, M., Pijlman, F., Mesman, J., & Juffer, F. (2008b). Experimental evidence for differential susceptibility: Dopamine D4 receptor polymorphism (DRD4 VNTR) moderates intervention effects on toddlers’ externalizing behavior in a randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 293–300.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beebe, B., Jaffe, J., Markese, S., Buck, K., Chen, H., Cohen, P., Bahrick, L., Andrews, H., & Feldstein, S. (2010). The origins of 12-month attachment: A microanalysis of 4-month mother-infant interaction. Attachment & Human Development, 12(1), 3–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, K., Dozier, M., Bick, J., Lewis-Morrarty, E., Lindhiem, O., & Carlson, E. (2012). Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Child Development, 83(2), 623–636.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, A., Matte-Gagne, C., Belanger, M., & Whipple, N. (2014). Taking stock of two decades of attachment transmission gap: Broadening the assessment of maternal behavior. Child Development, 85 (5), 1852–1865.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Booth-LaForce, C., & Roisman, G. (2014). The adult attachment interview: Psychometrics, stability and change from infancy, and develpmental origins. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 79(3), 1–185.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britner, P., Marvin, R., & Pianta, R. (2005). Development and preliminary validation of the caregiving behavior system: Association with child attachment classification in the preschool strange situation. Attachment & Human Development, 7, 83–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caspers, K., Yucuis, R., Troutman, B., Arndt, S., & Langbehn, D. (2007). A sibling adoption study of adult attachment: The influence of shared environment on attachment state of mind. Attachment & Human Development, 9(4), 375–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., & Marvin, R. (1992). Attachment organization in three and four year olds: Procedures and coding manual. University of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., Marvin, R., & the MacArthur Working Group on Attachment. (1992). Attachment organization in preschool children: Procedures and coding guidelines (4th ed.). University of Virginia. Charlottesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., Ziv, Y., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., Powell, B., & Karfgin, A. (2007). Enhancing attachment security in the infants of women in a jail-diversion program. Paper presented at the Biennial meeting of the Social for Research in Child Development, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., Woodhouse, S., Sherman, L., Stupica, B., & Lejuez, C. W. (2011). Enhancing infant attachment security: An examination of treatment efficacy and differential susceptibility. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 131–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chaffin, M., Funderburk, B., Bard, D., Valle, L., & Gurwitch, R. (2011). A combined motivation and parent-child interaction therapy package reduces child welfare recidivism in a randomized dismantling field trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(1), 84–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F., & Toth, S. (2006). Fostering secure attachment in infants in maltreating families through preventive interventions. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 623–649.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, N., Muir, E., Lojkasek, M., Muir, R., Parker, C., Barwick, M., & Brown, M. (1999). Watch, wait and wonder: Testing the effectiveness of a new approahc to mother-infant psychotherapy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20, 429–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., Powell, B., & Marvin, R. (2005). The Circle of Security Intervention: Differential diagnosis and differential treatment. In L. Berlin, Y. Ziv, L. Amaya-Jackson, & M. Greenberg (Eds.), Enhancing early attachments: Theory, research, intervention, and policy (pp. 127–151). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Wolff, M., & Van Ijzendoorn, M. (1997). Sensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. Child Development, 68(4), 571–591.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Del Carmen, R., Pedersen, F., Huffman, L., & Bryan, Y. (1993). Dyadic distress management predicts subsequent security of attachment. Infant Behavior and Development, 16, 131–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, M., Higley, E., Albus, K., & Nutter, A. (2002). Intervening with foster infants’ caregivers: Targeting three critical needs. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23(5), 541–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, M., Peloso, E., Zirkel, S., & Lindheim, O. (2007). Intervention effects on foster infants’attachment to new caregivers. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, M., Peloso, E., Lewis, E., Laurenceau, J., & Levine, S. (2008). Effects of an attachment-based intervention on the cortisol production of infants and toddlers in foster care. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 845–859.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, M., Korfmacher, J., & Egeland, B. (1992). Attachments past and present: Implications for therapeutic intervention with mother-infant dyads. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 495–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eyberg, S. (2005). Parent-child interaction therapy: Basic coaching guidelines. Retrieved August 13, 2013, from University of Florida PCIT website: pcit.phhp.ufl.edu/…/web%20Coaching%20in%20PCIT%20May%202006.ppt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fearon, R., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., van Ijzendoorn, M., Lapsley, A., & Roisman, G. (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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fraiberg, S. (1980). Clinical studies in infant mental health: The first year of life. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraiberg, S., Adelson, E., & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to impaired infant-mother relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14, 387–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M., Speltz, M., DeKlyen, M., & Endriga, M. (1991). Attachment security in preschoolers with and without externalizing behavior problems: A replication. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 413–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesse, E., & Main, M. (2000). Disorganized infant, child, and adult attachment: Collapse in behavioral and attentional strategies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48(4), 1097–1127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, K., Marvin, R., Cooper, G., & Powell, B. (2006). Changing toddlers’ and preschoolers’ attachment classifications: The circle of security intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 1017–1026.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ijzendoorn, M. v. (1995). Breaking the intergenerational cycle of insecure attachment: A review of the effects of attachment-based interventions on maternal sensitivity and infant security. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 225–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Juffer, F., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2005). The importance of parenting in the development of disorganized attachment: Evidence from a preventive intervention study in adoptive families. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(3), 263–274.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Korfmacher, J., Adam, E., Ogawa, J., & Egeland, B. (1997). Adult attachment: Implications for the therapeutic process in a home visitation intervention Applied Developmental Science, 1(1), 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, K., Meehan, K., Kelly, K., Reynoso, J., Weber, M., Clarkin, J., & Kernberg, O. (2006). Change in attachment patterns and reflective function in a randomized control trial of transference-focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(6), 1027–1040.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, A. F., & Van Horn, P. (2008). Psychotherapy with infants and young children: Repairing the effects of stress and trauma on early attachment. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons-Ruth, K., & Spielman, E. (2004). Disorganized infant attachment strategies and helpless-fearful profiles of parenting: Integrating attachment research with clinical intervention. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25(4), 318–335.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Assessments of child-parent attachment at six years of age. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1998). Adult attachment scoring and classification system. Berkeley: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange situation. In M. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss, E., Cyr, C., & Dubois-Comtois, K. (2004). Attachment at early school age and developmental risk: Examining family contexts and behavior problems of controlling-caregiving, controlling-punitive, and behaviorally disorganized children. Developmental Psychology, 40(4), 519–532.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, E., Dubois-Comtois, K., Cyr, C., St-Laurent, D., & Bernier, A. (2011). Efficacy of a home-visiting intervention aimed at improving maternal sensitivity, child attachment, and behavioral outcomes for maltreated children: A randomized control trial. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 195–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (1997). The effects of infant child care on infant-mother attachment security. Child Development, 68, 860–879.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, B., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., & Marvin, R. (2014). The circle of security intervention: Enhancing attachment in early parent-child relationships. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riem, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., van Ijzendoorn, M., Out, D., & Rombouts, S. (2012). Attachment in the brain: adult attachment representations predict amygdala and behavioral responses to infant crying. Attachment & Human Development, 14(6), 533–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J. (Writer). (1953a). Film: A two-year-old goes to hospital: Concord Video and Film Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J. (1953b). Some responses of young children to loss of maternal care. Nursing Times, April, 382–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J. (Writer). (1971). Film: Thomas, aged two years four months, in foster care for ten days: Concord Video and Film Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J., & Robertson, J. (1989). Separation and the very young. London: Free Association Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, M. (Producer). (2010). Professor Sanders discusses how Triple P helps promote secure attachment in children. http://www.psy.uq.edu.au/activity/media.html?mid=12. Accessed 7 July 2014.

  • Speltz, M., Greenberg, M., & DeKlyen, M. (1990). Attachment in preschoolers with disruptive behavior: A comparison of clinic-referred and nonproblem children. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 31–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speltz, M., DeKlyen, M., Greenberg, M., & Dryden, M. (1995). Clinic referral for oppositional defiant disorder: Relative significance of attachment and behavioral variables. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(4), 487–507.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Speltz, M., DeKlyen, M., & Greenberg, M. (1999). Attachment in boys with early onset conduct problems. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 269–285.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, H., & Steele, M. (2008). Clinical applications of the adult attachment interview. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stovall-McClough, K., & Cloitre, M. (2003). Reorganization of unresolved childhood traumatic memories following exposure therapy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2008, 297–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toth, S., Rogosch, F., Manly, J., & Cicchetti, D. (2006). The efficacy of toddler-parent psychotherapy to reorganize attachment in the young offspring of mothers with major depressive disorder: A randomized preventive trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 1006–1016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Troutman, B., Arndt, S., Caspers, K., & Yucuis, R. (2010). Infant negative emotionality moderates the association between quantity of nonfamilial day care and infant-mother attachment. Paper presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s 57th Annual Meeting, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Boom, D. (1988). Neonatal irritability and the development of attachment: Observation and intervention. Dissertation, University of Leiden.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Boom, D. (1989). Neonatal irritability and the development of attachment. In G. Kohnstamm, J. Bates, & M. Rothbart (Eds.), Temperament in childhood. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Boom, D. (1994). The influence of temperament and mothering on attachment and exploration: An experimental manipulation of sensitive responsiveness among lower-class mothers with irritable infants. Child Development, 65, 1457–1477.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Ijzendoorn, M. (1995). Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the adult attachment interview. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 387–403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van IJzendoorn, M., & Hubbard, F. (2000). Are infant crying and maternal responsiveness during the first year related to infant-mother attachment at 15 months? Attachment & Human Development, 2(3), 371–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Ijzendoorn, M., Schuengel, C., & Bakermans-Kranenberg, M. (1999). Disorganized attachment in early childhood: Meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 225–249.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeanah, C., Berlin, L., & Boris, N. (2011). Practitioner review: Clinical applications of attachment theory and research for infants and young children. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(8), 819–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Beth Troutman PhD

Authors
  1. Beth Troutman PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beth Troutman PhD .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Troutman, B. (2015). Viewing Parent-Child Interactions Through the Lens of Attachment Theory. In: Integrating Behaviorism and Attachment Theory in Parent Coaching. SpringerBriefs in Psychology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15239-4_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation