Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mothers’ Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A central hypothesis in attachment theory is that parents' own attachment will influence their parenting behavior in ways important to children’s well-being; little is known, however, about mechanisms through which self-reported adult attachment style influences parenting behavior. This study examines prospective links between mothers’ insecure attachment style and their unsupportive behavioral responses to child distress (i.e., punitive, minimizing, and self-focused responses) through mothers’ emotional and cognitive reactions to child distress (e.g., attributing crying to negative qualities of the child). Low-income mothers (N = 164; 79% African American) of preschool children attending Head Start reported on their own attachment style (anxiety and avoidance) and typical responses to their children’s distress at Time 1. Approximately 4–6 months later (Time 2), mothers again reported on their responses to their children’s distress, as well as their emotions and attributions when watching videos of infants crying. Results from structural equation modeling analyses indicated that mothers’ attachment anxiety at Time 1 predicted more unsupportive responses to child distress at Time 2, an indirect link that was explained by heightened negative emotions/attributions about child distress. No paths from maternal attachment avoidance or paths involving positive emotions/attributions emerged. Results provide preliminary evidence for a possible mechanism through which parents’ attachment anxiety may influence their unsupportive responses to child distress. These findings contribute to a growing literature on the influence of adult attachment style on parenting and highlight the importance of longitudinal research examining mechanisms linking parent characteristics to parenting behaviors that have important implications for child development.

Highlights

  • We examined mothers’ attachment style, emotions and attributions about child distress, and responses to their preschoolers’ distress in a low-income, predominantly African American sample.

  • Attachment-anxious mothers showed more unsupportive (e.g., punitive) responses to their children’s distress.

  • This link was explained by attachment-anxious mothers’ heightened negative emotions/attributions about child distress.

  • Results shed light on cognitive and emotional mechanisms by which adult attachment may shape parenting behavior.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ablow, J. C., Marks, A. K., Feldman, S., & Huffman, L. C. (2013). Associations between first‐time expectant women’s representations of attachment and their physiological reactivity to infant cry. Child Development, 84(4), 1373–1391. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, M. D., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, England: Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.1037/t28248-000

  • An, D., Bendel‐Stenzel, L. C., & Kochanska, G. (2022). Negative internal working models as mechanisms that link mothers’ and fathers’ personality with their parenting: A short‐term longitudinal study. Journal of Personality. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jopy.12711

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Kroonenberg, P. M. (2004). Differences in attachment security between African-American and white children: Ethnicity or socio-economic status. Infant Behavior and Development, 27(3), 417–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.02.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M., & Chou, C. P. (1987). Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociological Methods & Research, 16(1), 78–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124187016001004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berlin, L. J., Dodge, K. A., & Reznick, J. S. (2013). Examining pregnant women’s hostile attributions about infants as a predictor of offspring maltreatment. JAMA Pediatrics, 167(6), 549–553. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1212

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books. (Original published 1969)

  • Branjerdporn, G., Meredith, P., Strong, J., & Green, M. (2019). Sensory sensitivity and its relationship with adult attachment and parenting styles. PLoS One, 14(1), e0209555. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209555

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult romantic attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46–76). New York, NY: Guilford

  • Bretherton, I., & Munholland, K. A. (2008). Internal working models in attachment relationships: Elaborating a central construct in attachment theory. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 102–130). New York, NY: Guilford

  • Cassidy, J., Brett, B. E., Gross, J. T., Stern, J. A., Martin, D. R., Mohr, J. J., & Woodhouse, S. S. (2017). Circle of Security–Parenting: A randomized controlled trial in Head Start. Development and Psychopathology, 29(2), 651–673. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000244

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chukwu, A. U., Ezichi, O. N., & Dike, A. O. (2015). On comparison of some imputation techniques in multivariate data analysis. Nature, 5(6)

  • Dix, T. (1991). The affective organization of parenting: Adaptive and maladaptive processes. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, A. S., Leerkes, E. M., Coard, S. I., Supple, A. J., & Calkins, S. (2017). An integrative conceptual model of parental racial/ethnic and emotion socialization and links to children’s social‐emotional development among African American families. Child Development Perspectives, 11, 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, A. S., Lozada, F. T., Ahn, L. H., & Leerkes, E. M. (2021). Mothers’ preparation for bias and responses to children’s distress predict positive adjustment among Black children: An attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2021.1976922

  • Dykas, M. J., & Cassidy, J. (2011). Attachment and the processing of social information across the life span: Theory and evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 19–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021367

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edelstein, R. S., Alexander, K. W., Shaver, P. R., Schaaf, J. M., Quas, J. A., Lovas, G. S., & Goodman, G. S. (2004). Adult attachment style and parental responsiveness during a stressful event. Attachment & Human Development, 6(1), 31–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/146167303100001659584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., & Reiser, M. (1999). Parental reactions to children’s negative emotions: Longitudinal relations to quality of children’s social functioning. Child Development, 70(2), 513–534. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00037

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Eggum, N. D., Silva, K. M., Reiser, M., Hofer, C., Smith, C. L., Gaertner, B. M., Kupfer, A., Tierney, P., & Michalik, N. (2010). Relations among maternal socialization, effortful control, and maladjustment in early childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 507–525. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000246

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fabes, R. A., Leonard, S. A., Kupanoff, K., & Martin, C. L. (2001). Parental coping with children’s negative emotions: Relations with children’s emotional and social responding. Child Development, 72(3), 907–920. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00323

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Farinelli, L., & Guerrero, L. K. (2011). Associations between caregiving and health outcomes among parents of children with mental illness: An attachment perspective. Health Communication, 26(3), 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2010.549811

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feeney, B. C., & Woodhouse, S. S. (2016). Caregiving. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 827–851). New York, NY: Guilford

  • Finzi-Dottan, R., Cohen, O., Iwaniec, D., Sapir, Y., & Weizman, A. (2006). The child in the family of a drug-using father: Attachment styles and family characteristics. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 6, 89–111. https://doi.org/10.1300/J160v06n01_05

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedlmeier, W., Corapci, F., & Cole, P. M. (2011). Emotion socialization in cross‐cultural perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(7), 410–427. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00362.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuths, S., Seehagen, S., & Schneider, S. (2017). How a mother processes her infant’s distress: Cognitive pathways to maternal insensitivity. Mental Health & Prevention, 6, 19–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2017.03.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garner, P. W., Jones, D. C., & Miner, J. L. (1994). Social competence among low-income preschoolers: Emotion socialization practices social cognitive correlates. Child Development, 65, 622–637. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131405

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984). Adult Attachment Interview protocol. Unpublished manuscript, University of California at Berkeley. https://doi.org/10.1037/t02879-000

  • Goodman, G. S., Quas, J. A., Batterman-Faunce, J. M., Riddlesberger, M. M., & Kuhn, J. (1997). Children’s reactions to and memory for a stressful event: Influences of age, anatomical dolls, knowledge, and parental attachment. Applied Developmental Science, 1(2), 54–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0102_1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grasso, D. J., Moser, J. S., Dozier, M., & Simons, R. (2009). ERP correlates of attention allocation in mothers processing faces of their children. Biological Psychology, 81(2), 95–102

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. D., Brett, B. E., Ehrlich, K. B., Lejuez, C. W., & Cassidy, J. (2014). Maternal attachment style and responses to adolescents’ negative emotions: The mediating role of maternal emotion regulation. Parenting, 14(3-4), 235–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2014.972760

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. D., Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (2015). Parents’ self-reported attachment styles: A review of links with parenting behaviors, emotions, and cognitions. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(1), 44–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868314541858

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kohlhoff, J., Eapen, V., Dadds, M., Khan, F., Silove, D., & Barnett, B. (2017). Oxytocin in the postnatal period: Associations with attachment and maternal caregiving. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 76, 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.03.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koran, J. (2020). Indicators per factor in confirmatory factor analysis: More is not always better. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 27(5), 765–772. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2019.1706527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M. (2010). Predictors of maternal sensitivity to infant distress. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10(3), 219–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295190903290840

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M., Bailes, L. G., & Augustine, M. E. (2020). The intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 390

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M., Bailes, L., Swingler, M. M., Augustine, M. A., & Norcross, P. L. (2021). A comprehensive model of women’s social cognition and responsiveness to infant crying: Integrating personality, emotion, executive function, and sleep. Infant Behavior and Development, 64, 101577

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M., & Siepak, K. J. (2006). Attachment linked predictors of women’s emotional and cognitive responses to infant distress. Attachment & Human Development, 8(01), 11–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730600594450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M., Sommers, S., & Bailes, L. (2022). The validity of prenatal assessments of mothers’ emotional, cognitive, and physiological reactions to infant cry. Parenting, 22, 1–29

  • Leerkes, E. M., Supple, A. J., O’Brien, M., Calkins, S. D., Haltigan, J. D., Wong, M. S., & Fortuna, K. (2015). Antecedents of maternal sensitivity during distressing tasks: Integrating attachment, social information processing, and psychobiological perspectives. Child Development, 86, 94–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12288

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leerkes, E. M., Weaver, J. M., & O’Brien, M. (2012). Differentiating maternal sensitivity to infant distress and non-distress. Parenting, 12(2-3), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2012.683353

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lemerise, E. A., & Arsenio, W. F. (2000). An integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing. Child Development, 71(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lench, H. C., Quas, J. A., & Edelstein, R. S. (2006). My child is better than average: The extension and restriction of unrealistic optimism. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(12), 2963–2979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00137.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorber, M. F., & O’Leary, S. G. (2005). Mediated paths to overreactive discipline: Mothers’ experienced emotion, appraisals, and physiological responses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(5), 972–981. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.73.5.972

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Luebbe, A. M., Kiel, E. J., & Buss, K. A. (2011). Toddlers’ context-varying emotions, maternal responses to emotions, and internalizing behaviors. Emotion, 11(3), 697–703. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022994

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1(2), 130–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.1.2.130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P. R., Cassidy, J., & Berant, E. (2009). Attachment-related defensive processes. In J. H. Obegi & E. Berant (Eds.), Attachment theory & research in clinical work with adults (pp. 293–327). Guilford

  • Morey, J. N., & Gentzler, A. L. (2017). Parents’ perceptions of and responses to children’s emotions: Relations with meta-emotion philosophy and adult attachment. Parenting, 17(2), 73–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2017.1304782

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, R. O., & Hancock, G. R. (2010). Structural equation modeling. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Mueller (Eds.), The reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences (pp. 371–383). Routledge

  • Murry, V. M., Gonzalez, C. M., Hanebutt, R. A., Bulgin, D., Coates, E. E., Inniss-Thompson, M. N., Debreaux, M. L., Wilson Jr., W. E., Abel, D., & Cortez, M. B. (2021). Longitudinal study of the cascading effects of racial discrimination on attachment processes and adjustment among African American youth. Attachment & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2021.1976926

  • Nelson, J. A., Leerkes, E. M., O’Brien, M., Calkins, S. D., & Marcovitch, S. (2012). African American and European American mothers’ beliefs about negative emotions and emotion socialization practices. Parenting, 12, 22–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2012.638871

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norcross, P. L., Bailes, L. G., & Leerkes, E. (2020). Effects of maternal depressive symptoms on sensitivity to infant distress and non-distress: Role of SES and race. Infant Behavior and Development, 61, 101498

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. C. (1967). Psychometric theory. McGraw-Hill

  • Okon-Singer, H., Hendler, T., Pessoa, L., & Shackman, A. J. (2015). The neurobiology of emotion–cognition interactions: Fundamental questions and strategies for future research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 58. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00058

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Parent, M. C. (2013). Handling item-level missing data: Simpler is just as good. The Counseling Psychologist, 41(4), 568–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000012445176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, C. E., Stark, E. A., Young, K. S., Stein, A., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2013). Understanding the human parental brain: A critical role of the orbitofrontal cortex. Social Neuroscience, 8(6), 525–543

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, N. B., Leerkes, E. M., Dunbar, A. S., & Cavanaugh, A. M. (2017). Gender and ethnic differences in young adults’ emotional reactions to parental punitive and minimizing emotion socialization practices. Emerging Adulthood, 5(2), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696816653856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pesonen, A., Räikkönen, K., Strandberg, T., Kelitikangas-Järvinen, L., & Järvenpää, A. (2004). Insecure adult attachment style and depressive symptoms: Implications for parental perceptions of infant temperament. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25, 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.10092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Priel, B., & Besser, A. (2000). Adult attachment styles, early relationships, antenatal attachment, and perceptions of infant temperament: A study of first-time mothers. Personal Relationships, 7, 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2000.tb00018.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • River, L. M., Borelli, J. L., & Nelson-Coffey, S. K. (2019). Tolerance of infant distress among working parents: Examining the roles of attachment anxiety and work–family conflict. Parenting, 19(1-2), 137–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2019.1556023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roisman, G. I., Holland, A., Fortuna, K., Fraley, R. C., Clausell, E., & Clarke, A. (2007). The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: An empirical rapprochement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(4), 678–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.678

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Satorra, A., & Saris, W. E. (1985). The power of the likelihood ratio test in covariance structure analysis. Psychometrika, 50, 83–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, P. R., & Mikulincer, M. (2007). Adult attachment strategies and the regulation of emotion. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 446–465). Guilford

  • Shaver, P. R., Mikulincer, M., Gross, J. T., Stern, J. A., & Cassidy, J. (2016). A lifespan perspective on attachment and care for others: Empathy, altruism, and prosocial behavior. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 878–916). Guilford

  • Sichko, S., Borelli, J. L., Smiley, P. A., Goldstein, A., & Rasmussen, H. F. (2018). Child and maternal attachment predict school‐aged children’s psychobiological convergence. Developmental Psychobiology, 60, 913–926. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21748

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., Greving, K., Liew, J., & Hofer, C. (2007). Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers’ effortful control to children’s adjustment and social competence. Developmental Psychology, 43(5), 1170–1186. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.5.1170

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, J. A., Borelli, J. L., & Smiley, P. A. (2015). Assessing parental empathy: A role for empathy in child attachment. Attachment & Human Development, 17(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2014.969749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, J. A., Barbarin, O. A., & Cassidy, J. (2021). Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice. Attachment & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2021.1976933

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, J. A., Jones, J. D., Nortey, B., Lejuez, C. W., & Cassidy, J. (2022). Pathways linking attachment and depressive symptoms for Black and White adolescents: Do race and neighborhood racism matter? Attachment & Human Development 24, 304–321

  • Stride, C. B., Gardner, S., Catley, N., & Thomas, F. (2015). Mplus code for mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation models

  • Trommsdorff, G., Cole, P. M., & Heikamp, T. (2012). Cultural variations in mothers’ intuitive theories: A preliminary report on interviewing mothers from five nations about their socialization of children’s emotions. Global Studies of Childhood, 2(2), 158–169. https://doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.2.158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2010). Invariance of adult attachment across gender, age, culture, and socioeconomic status. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(2), 200–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509360908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verhage, M. L., Schuengel, C., Madigan, S., Fearon, R. M., Oosterman, M., Cassibba, R., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2016). Narrowing the transmission gap: A synthesis of three decades of research on intergenerational transmission of attachment. Psychological Bulletin, 142(4), 337–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000038

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, M., Russell, D. W., Mallinckrodt, B., & Vogel, D. L. (2007). The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-short form: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890701268041

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, E. J., Harrington, K. M., Clark, S. L., & Miller, M. W. (2013). Sample size requirements for structural equation models: An evaluation of power, bias, and solution propriety. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 73(6), 913–934

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeifman, D. M. (2001). An ethological analysis of human infant crying: Answering Tinbergen’s four questions. Developmental Psychobiology: The Journal of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, 39(4), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund. Betsy Krieger, Karen Kreisberg, Linda Heisner, Brooke Hisle, Danielle Gregg, and Elizabeth Thompson provided important leadership and coordination. Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F32HD102119 to J.S. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jessica A. Stern

    Present address: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

  2. Bonnie E. Brett

    Present address: Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, 4094 Campus Dr., College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Jacquelyn T. Gross, Jessica A. Stern, Bonnie E. Brett, Megan H. Fitter & Jude Cassidy

Authors
  1. Jacquelyn T. Gross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica A. Stern
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bonnie E. Brett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Megan H. Fitter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jude Cassidy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conception and design of the study were performed by J.T.G. Data collection and analysis were performed by J.T.G., B.E.B., J.A.S., and J.C. All authors contributed to all drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacquelyn T. Gross.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board of the University of Maryland and with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gross, J.T., Stern, J.A., Brett, B.E. et al. Mothers’ Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions. J Child Fam Stud 32, 876–891 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02517-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02517-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation