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Attachment to mother and father at transition to middle childhood. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Di Folco, Simona LU ; Messina, Serena ; Savattini, Giulio Cesare and Psouni, Elia LU orcid (2017) In Journal of Child and Family Studies 26(3). p.721-733
Abstract
The present study investigated concordance between representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father, and convergence between two narrative-based methods addressing these representations in middle childhood: the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) and the Secure Base Script Test (SBST). One hundred and twenty 6-year-old children were assessed by separate administrations of the MCAST for mother and father, respectively, and results showed concordance of representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father at age 6.5 years. 75 children were additionally tested about 12 months later, with the SBST, which assesses scripted knowledge of secure base (and safe haven), not differentiating between mother and... (More)
The present study investigated concordance between representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father, and convergence between two narrative-based methods addressing these representations in middle childhood: the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) and the Secure Base Script Test (SBST). One hundred and twenty 6-year-old children were assessed by separate administrations of the MCAST for mother and father, respectively, and results showed concordance of representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father at age 6.5 years. 75 children were additionally tested about 12 months later, with the SBST, which assesses scripted knowledge of secure base (and safe haven), not differentiating between mother and father attachment relationships. Concerning attachment to father, dichotomous classifications (MCAST) and a continuous dimension capturing scripted secure base knowledge (MCAST) converged with secure base scriptedness (SBST), yet we could not show the same pattern of convergence concerning attachment to mother. Results suggest some convergence between the two narrative methods of assessment of secure base script but also highlight complications when using the MCAST for measuring attachment to father in middle childhood. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Middle childhood, Secure base script, Attachment to father, Attachment to mother, Generalized attachment representations
in
Journal of Child and Family Studies
volume
26
issue
3
pages
13 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:84995474863
  • pmid:28239249
  • wos:000394439700005
ISSN
1062-1024
DOI
10.1007/s10826-016-0602-7
project
Attachment Development and Emotion Regulation in Middle Childhood
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f96c5c40-203a-4ce9-a55f-c06e11c5814b
date added to LUP
2016-12-02 17:33:41
date last changed
2024-02-03 05:35:36
@article{f96c5c40-203a-4ce9-a55f-c06e11c5814b,
  abstract     = {{The present study investigated concordance between representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father, and convergence between two narrative-based methods addressing these representations in middle childhood: the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) and the Secure Base Script Test (SBST). One hundred and twenty 6-year-old children were assessed by separate administrations of the MCAST for mother and father, respectively, and results showed concordance of representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father at age 6.5 years. 75 children were additionally tested about 12 months later, with the SBST, which assesses scripted knowledge of secure base (and safe haven), not differentiating between mother and father attachment relationships. Concerning attachment to father, dichotomous classifications (MCAST) and a continuous dimension capturing scripted secure base knowledge (MCAST) converged with secure base scriptedness (SBST), yet we could not show the same pattern of convergence concerning attachment to mother. Results suggest some convergence between the two narrative methods of assessment of secure base script but also highlight complications when using the MCAST for measuring attachment to father in middle childhood.}},
  author       = {{Di Folco, Simona and Messina, Serena and Savattini, Giulio Cesare and Psouni, Elia}},
  issn         = {{1062-1024}},
  keywords     = {{Middle childhood; Secure base script; Attachment to father; Attachment to mother; Generalized attachment representations}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{721--733}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Child and Family Studies}},
  title        = {{Attachment to mother and father at transition to middle childhood. Journal of Child and Family Studies.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0602-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10826-016-0602-7}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}