ERIC Number: EJ830732
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0165-0254
EISSN: N/A
Links between Children's Attachment Behavior at Early School-Age, Their Attachment-Related Representations, and Behavior Problems in Middle Childhood
Moss, Ellen; Bureau, Jean-Francois; Beliveau, Marie-Julie; Zdebik, Magdalena; Lepine, Suzanne
International Journal of Behavioral Development, v33 n2 p155-166 2009
The objective of the present study was to examine associations between children's attachment behavior at early school-age, dimensions of narrative performance, and behavior problems as assessed in middle childhood. Children's attachment patterns with mother were assessed at age 6 (N = 127) using the Main and Cassidy (1988) separation--reunion classification system. Two years later, these children (N = 109) completed the Narrative Story Stem Battery (Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & The MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990), and teachers rated their level of behavior problems using the Social Behavior Questionnaire (Tremblay, Vitaro, Gagnon, Piche, & Royer, 1992). Results indicated that secure children depicted fewer conflict themes in their narratives than did disorganized/controlling children, produced more discipline themes than avoidant children, and had higher coherence scores than ambivalent children. Avoidant children also depicted fewer conflict themes than disorganized/controlling children. Finally, children's narrative conflict themes significantly predicted both level of externalizing and total behavior problems, even after controlling for variance explained by gender and disorganized/controlling attachment behavior. Girls' narratives were more likely to evoke discipline and affection/affiliation themes, and to be more coherent than boys' narratives. (Contains 1 footnote and 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Behavior Problems, Discipline, Social Behavior, Conflict, Attachment Behavior, Young Children, Gender Differences, Child Behavior, Parent Child Relationship, Mothers, Classification, Personal Narratives, Predictor Variables, Separation Anxiety, Foreign Countries, Preschool Children, Elementary School Students, Student Adjustment
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A