Trust Development as an Expectancy-learning Process: Testing Contingency Effects.

Trust in parental support and subsequent support seeking behavior, a hallmark of secure attachment, result from experiences with sensitive parents during distress. However, the underlying developmental mechanism remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that trust is the result of an expectancy-learning process condtional upon contingency (the probability that caregiver support has a positive outcome). We developed a new paradigm in which a novel caregiver provides help to solve a problem. Contingency of the caregiver's support was manipulated and participants' trust in the caregiver and their help seeking behavior was measured in three independent samples. The hypothesis was supported suggesting that trust and support seeking result from an expectancy-learning process. These findings' potential contribution to attachment theory is discussed.status: publishe

Attachment development in children adopted from China: The role of pre-adoption care and sensitive adoptive parenting

The current study examined the attachment development of 92 internationally adopted Chinese girls, focusing on the influence of type of pre-adoption care (institutional versus foster care) and sensitive adoptive parenting. Although the children were more often insecurely attached than non-adopted children 2 and 6 months after adoption (Times 1 and 2, N = 92), they had similar levels of secure base script knowledge (SBS knowledge) as a non-adopted comparison group at age 10 (Time 3, N = 87). Furthermore, concurrently observed sensitive parenting was positively associated with SBS knowledge. Finally, a significant interaction between type of pre-adoption care and early-childhood sensitive parenting indicated that the post-institutionalized children showed a stronger increase in security than the post-foster children when parents were more sensitive.status: Published onlin

Taxometric analysis of secure base script knowledge in middle childhood reveals categorical latent structure.

Taxometric investigation of scripted attachment representations in lateadolescence and adulthood suggests that variations in secure base script knowledge consist of differences in degree (dimensional latent structure) rather than differences in kind (categorical latent structure). However, the latent structure of secure base script knowledge in younger cohorts has gone unexplored. This study presents a downward extension of prior taxometric work using the middle childhood version of the Attachment Script Assessment in a cross-sectional sample of 639 normative-risk children (age 8 to 13 years; M = 10.77, SD = 1.06). Results suggest that secure base script knowledge in middle childhood is categorically distributed. Taxometric curves revealed three distinct taxa, highlighting discontinuity in the latent structure of scripted attachment representations across development.status: publishe

Stability and Change in Secure Base Script Knowledge During Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study

There is limited research examining stability and change in attachment security in middle childhood. The current study addresses this gap using data from a 3-year longitudinal study. Specifically, we examined stability and change in secure base script knowledge during middle childhood using a sample of 157 children (Wave 1 mean age [Mage] = 10.91, standard deviation [SD] = 0.87) assessed at 1-year intervals across 4 waves. Secure base script knowledge was moderately stable over time, as script scores were significantly correlated between each wave. We also investigated the impact of life stress on change in secure base script knowledge within individuals across waves. The results demonstrated that daily hassles (minor and frequently occurring stressful life events) but not major (more severe and infrequent) stressful life events predicted change in script knowledge. Implications for attachment-based interventions and, more broadly, the stability of attachment security are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).status: publishe

Does secure base script knowledge mediate associations between observed parental caregiving during childhood and adult romantic relationship quality and health?

Increasingly, attachment representations are being assessed via secure base script knowledge - the degree to which individuals show awareness of the temporal-causal schema that summarizes the basic features of seeking and receiving effective support from caregivers during times of need. Limited research has assessed the links between secure base script knowledge and aspects of adult functioning and the role that secure base script knowledge may play in accounting for associations between early caregiving quality and adulthood functioning. We used follow-up assessments of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development cohort (N = 585) to examine whether secure base script knowledge at age 18 years: (a) is associated with later romantic relationship quality, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI) at age 26 years, and (b) mediates expected associations between the quality of maternal and paternal sensitivity across the first 15 years of life and age-26 outcomes. More access to, and elaborated knowledge of the secure base script predicted less extreme hostility with romantic partners, and better emotional and physical health. Moreover, secure base script knowledge mediated the links between early maternal and paternal sensitivity and both later romantic partner hostility and depressive symptoms, but not BMI