Abstract
Thirty-eight, healthy, full-term, first-born infants of adolescent mothers were assessed in a standardized laboratory setting using a modified Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure for assessing attachment. The security rate within this sample was 23.7% which differed considerably from that reported in most white middle class samples of approximately 55–65%. Within this sample, 31.6% were classified as insecure/disorganized which contrasts with 12% in middle class white samples reported by Main & Weston. A racial difference was evident. Fewer black infants were securely attached than were white. This paper presents the findings according to race, sex and age and discusses the implications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Spieker SJ, Booth CL: Maternal antecedents of attachment quality. In Belsky J, & Nezworski T (Eds.),Clinical Implications of Attachment, 95–135. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1988.
Ainsworth MDS, Wittig B: Attachment and exploratory behavior in one-year-olds in a strange situation. In Foss BM (Ed.),Determinants of infant behavior IV. London: Metheun, 1969.
Waters E, Wippman J, Sroufe LA: Attachment, positive affect, and competence in the peer group. Two studies in construct validation.Child Develop 50: 821–829, 1979.
Ainsworth MD, Blehar MC, Waters E, Wall S:Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1978.
Main M, Solomon J: Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth strange situation. In Greenberg M, Cicchetti D, & Cummings EM (Eds.),Attachment in the Preschool Years: Theory, Research & Intervention. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Campos JJ, Barrett K, Lamb ME, Goldsmith H, Stenberg CR: Socioemotional development. In Haith MM & Campos JJ (Eds.),Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 2. Infancy and developmental psychobiology. New York: Wiley, 783–915, 1983.
Main M, Weston D: The quality of the toddler's relationship to mother and to father: Related to conflict behavior and the readiness to establish new relationships.Child Develop, 52: 932–940, 1981.
Carlson V, Cicchetti D, Barnett D, Braunwald K: Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants.Develop Psychol, 25: 525–531, 1989.
Lyons-Ruth K, Connell DB, Grunebaum H: Infants at social risk: Maternal depression and family support services as mediators of infant development and security or attachment.Child Develop, 61: 85–98, 1990.
Speltz MJ, Greenberg MT, & DeKlyen M: Attachment in preschoolers with disruptive behavior: A comparison of clinic referred and non-problem children.Develop and Psychopath, 2: 31–46, 1990.
Ward MJ: Personal communication, 1992.
Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives, Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1, Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1990.
Lyons-Ruth K, Alpern L, Repacholi B: Disorganized infant attachment classification and maternal psychosocial problems as predictors of hostile-aggressive behavior in the preschool classroom.Child Develop, 64: 572–585, 1993.
Sroufe LA, Waters E: Attachment as an organizational construct. InChild Develop, Vol. 48, No. 4, 1184–1199, Dec. 1977.
Sroufe LA, Schork E, Motti F, Lawroski N, LaFrenier P: The role of affect in social competence. In C. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. Zajonc.Affect, cognition and behavior. New York: Plenum, in press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Broussard, E.R. Infant attachment in a sample of adolescent mothers. Child Psych Hum Dev 25, 211–219 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02250990
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02250990