Variation in attachment quality was assessed in 92 one- to three-year-olds’ (49 female, 43 male) attachment to their father, within and across two small-scale, subsistence populations: the Tsimane of ...lowland Bolivia (n = 29 dyads) and Tannese of Vanuatu (n = 63 dyads). Overall, the Tsimane and Tannese populations show similarity in the patterning of child–father attachment relative to samples from industrialized societies, with 52% of Tsimane dyads and 62% of Tannese dyads showing secure attachment. However, the insecure-ambivalent attachment was more frequent among Tsimane and Tannese dyads relative to samples from industrialized societies, and attachment security was greater for sons than for daughters in Tanna. Of several attributes of fathers, only reports by mothers of how frequently fathers play with their children are associated with child–father secure attachment. Fathers who scored highly on this measure were more likely to have children with secure attachments. Studies of child–father attachment are rare outside of industrialized populations yet are critical to understanding the mechanisms underlying child–father relationships.
Growing evidence points to the theoretical and statistical advantages of continuous (rather than categorical) assessments of child-caregiver attachment. The Preschool Attachment Rating Scales (PARS) ...is a continuous coding system to assess preschool attachment that is complementary to the categorical MacArthur Preschool Attachment Coding System (PACS). The current study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the PARS to measure both child-mother and child-father attachment during the preschool period. Participants included 144 preschool-aged children (M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77; 83 girls) and their parents. Results support the reliability and validity of the PARS: good inter-rater reliability, expected associations between scales, convergence with the PACS, and association with parental sensitivity and child externalizing problems. These findings support the application of continuous assessments of child-caregiver attachment in the preschool years. They also align with previous work on child-mother attachment, and present avenues for future research on child-father attachment.
The 10-item Social Provisions Scale (SPS-10) has been implemented to measure social support in a number of national surveys in Canada. The objective of this study was to reduce the SPS-10 to a brief, ...five-item scale (SPS-5), while maintaining adequate measurement properties.
Data from individuals aged 18 years and older who responded to the Social Provisions Scale module in the Canadian Community Health Survey 2012 Mental Health Focus cycle (CCHS 2012 MH) and the Canadian Community Health Survey 2017 Annual cycle (CCHS 2017) were analyzed. We used exploratory factor analysis and item-to-total correlations from the CCHS 2012 MH data to choose items. A correlation analysis between the SPS-5, SPS-10 and related positive mental health (PMH) constructs were used to assess the criterion-related validity of the SPS-5 compared to the SPS-10. A confirmatory factor analysis using data from the CCHS 2017 was conducted to confirm the factor structure of the SPS‑5.
The SPS-5 showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.88) and similar correlations as the SPS-10 with related PMH constructs. The SPS-5 and SPS-10 were also very highly correlated (r = 0.97). The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a single factor model of the SPS-5 fit the data well. The SPS-5 and SPS-10 yield similar estimates of high social support, of 92.7 and 91.5%, respectively.
The new SPS-5 demonstrated adequate measurement properties, and functioned in a similar manner to the SPS-10, supporting a reduced version of the Scale. The SPS-5 is a feasible and valid alternative to the SPS-10 that could be used to reduce respondent burden on national health surveys.
Introduction
L’Échelle de provisions sociales à 10 items (SPS-10) a été mise en oeuvre dans un certain nombre d’enquêtes nationales canadiennes pour évaluer le soutien social. L’objectif de notre ...étude était de réduire l’échelle SPS-10 à une échelle à 5 items (SPS-5) tout en conservant des propriétés de mesure adéquates.
Méthodologie
Nous avons analysé les données fournies par les personnes de 18 ans et plus ayant répondu aux questions du module utilisant l’Échelle de provisions sociales dans le cadre du cycle thématique sur la santé mentale de l’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes de 2012 (ESCC-SM 2012) et du cycle annuel de l’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes de 2017 (ESCC 2017). Pour choisir les items, nous avons effectué une analyse factorielle exploratoire et une corrélation item-total sur les données du cycle SM ESCC 2012. Nous avons utilisé une analyse de corrélation entre l’échelle SPS-5, l’échelle SPS-10 et les construits de santé mentale positive (SMP) correspondants pour évaluer la validité critérielle de l’échelle SPS-5 par rapport à l’échelle SPS-10. Nous avons effectué une analyse factorielle confirmatoire à partir des données du cycle ESCC 2017 afin de confirmer la structure des facteurs de l’échelle SPS‑5.
Résultats
L’échelle SPS-5 présente une cohérence interne élevée (indice alpha de Cronbach de 0,88) et des corrélations avec les construits de SMP correspondants semblables à celles de l’échelle SPS-10. Les échelles SPS-5 et SPS-10 se sont aussi avérées très fortement corrélées (r = 0,97). L’analyse factorielle confirmatoire indique que le modèle à un seul facteur par provision, c’est-à-dire la SPS-5, est bien ajusté aux données. Les échelles SPS-5 et SPS-10 produisent des estimations similaires d’un soutien social élevé, de respectivement 92,7 et 91,5 %.
Conclusion
La nouvelle échelle SPS-5 offre des propriétés de mesure adéquates et fonctionne de façon semblable à l’échelle SPS-10, étayant l’utilisation de cette version réduite. Elle constitue une solution de remplacement valide et utilisable de l’échelle SPS-10, ce qui pourrait alléger la tâche des participants aux enquêtes nationales sur la santé.
Past meta-analyses show that both child-mother and child-father attachment insecurity are independently and jointly associated with more externalizing behaviors in children. Little is known, however, ...on the ways that different types of insecure attachment independently and jointly predict the development of externalizing behaviors over time. Existing work also neglects the impact of children's gender within the context of child-father relationships. The current study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure type of child-father attachment, child-mother attachment, and their interaction in the preschool years predict boys' and girls' externalizing behaviors in middle childhood, when controlling for children's externalizing behaviors in the preschool years. The sample included 144 preschool-aged children (M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77, 83 girls) and both of their parents. At Time 1, children completed independent separation-reunion procedures with each parent, which were coded using the Preschool Attachment Rating Scales. At Time 1 and Time 2 (5 years later), mothers and fathers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to report on their children's externalizing behaviors. Results showed no systematic differences in the way that child-mother and child-father attachment predicted the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls. Across all children, results identified an interaction of child-father and child-mother ambivalence, by which the presence of ambivalence toward both parents predicted the development of more externalizing behaviors. In addition, child-father controlling-caregiving attachment predicted the development of fewer externalizing behaviors. These results provide insight into the ways that insecure child-father and child-mother attachment predict later socioemotional adaptation.
Although considerable research has sought to establish the influence of parent-child attachment on child socioemotional adaptation, it has primarily focused on mother-child dyads and external reports ...of adaptation. The current study investigates the longitudinal associations between both preschool mother-child and father-child attachment and self-reported socioemotional adaptation in middle childhood. Eighty-three children (47 girls) participated in separate lab visits with each parent at both Time 1 (3-5 years old) and Time 2 (7-11 years old). Results revealed that father-child attachment assessed with the MacArthur Preschool Attachment Coding System was uniquely related to child self-esteem, such that insecure children had significantly lower self-esteem scores than what was expected by chance. Children insecurely attached to their father also reported significantly higher externalizing problems than secure children, but this relationship was only significant if the child was also insecurely attached to their mother.
The increase in fathers' involvement in childrearing, particularly beyond infancy, warrants research exploring factors influencing the quality of child-father attachment relationships, and the impact ...of these relationships on children's social development. The current investigation explored various correlates of preschoolers' child-father attachment security to both parents, including contextual factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, child temperament, parenting stress), parental play sensitivity, and child social adaptation. Participants included 107 preschool-aged children (59 girls; M = 46.67 months, SD = 8.57) and their fathers and mothers. Results revealed that both mothers' and fathers' play sensitivity were associated with child attachment security after controlling for different contextual factors. Furthermore, the magnitude of the association between child conduct problems and child-father attachment insecurity was stronger than the corresponding association with child-mother attachment insecurity. Findings provide important information on caregiving factors associated with child-father attachment security in the preschool years and the importance of this bond to children's social adaptation.
Abstract The current investigation addressed the potential for unique influences of perceived childhood maltreatment, adverse family-life events, and parent-child relational trauma on the lifetime ...occurrence and addictive features of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Participants included 957 undergraduate students (747 females; M = 20.14 years, SD = 3.88) who completed online questionnaires regarding the key variables under study. Although self-injuring youth reported more experiences with each family-based risk factor, different patterns of association were found when lifetime engagement in NSSI or its addictive features were under study. Perceived parent-child relational trauma was uniquely linked with NSSI behavior after accounting for perceived childhood maltreatment; adverse family-life events had an additional unique association. In contrast, perceived paternal maltreatment was uniquely related with NSSI's addictive features. Findings underline the importance of studying inter-related family-based risk factors of NSSI simultaneously for a comprehensive understanding of familial correlates of NSSI behavior and its underlying features.
Abstract This study examined associations between relationship difficulties with parents and peers and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Particular emphasis was placed on examining mediating pathways ...through emotion dysregulation, as per commonly accepted theory. Participants were 1153 university students (905 females; Mage =19.35 years, S.D.=1.49); 79 of these participants had engaged in NSSI during the previous 6 months (63 females, Mage =19.35 years, S.D.=1.51). Participants completed questionnaires assessing NSSI, quality of relationships with parents and peers, and emotion dysregulation. Hierarchical logistic regressions suggest that the quality of parent–child relationships has a greater impact on the prediction of NSSI engagement than the quality of peer relationships. Results of a structural equation model showed that feelings of alienation in both parent and peer relationships had indirect effects on NSSI through deficits in emotion regulation (ER). Results suggest the importance of examining emotion dysregulation in association with NSSI, and that both parent and peer relationships are implicated in NSSI engagement through emotion regulation deficits. Important clinical implications regarding the need to acknowledge both emotion dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties when treating NSSI in young adults are discussed.
A number of studies have examined the role of coparenting relationships on the development of children's attachment to their mothers and fathers. However, previous research tends to interpret this ...link as unidirectional, thereby ignoring the possibility that, in reverse, child-parent attachment relationships could also predict the quality of the coparenting relationship. Furthermore, there is limited work examining how the child-father and the child-mother attachment relationships may interact to predict coparenting. In response to these limitations, the current study drew from an integrative family systems framework and observational measures to examine these possible relations in biparental heterosexual families. To assess child-parent attachment security, 144 preschool-aged children (83 girls; M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77) completed independent separation-reunion procedures with their mother and father during counterbalanced laboratory visits. During a subsequent home visit, parents engaged in triadic play with their child, from which coparenting cooperation and competition were evaluated. Results showed that child-mother and child-father attachment security were not independent predictors of coparenting; rather, their interaction significantly predicted the quality of the coparenting relationship. In line with theoretical models calling for a family systems approach, study findings highlight the importance of considering the interactive effects of child-father and child-mother attachment relationships when examining family dynamics.
Public Significance Statement
The current study suggests that the interaction between children's attachment security toward their father and mother is a more important predictor of the quality of the coparenting relationship than is either individual child-parent attachment relationship. On a broader level, these results show the need to consider the interplay between the child-father and the child-mother relationship when assessing family dynamics. At a more specific level, we also show that there is lower cooperation and higher competition when child-mother security is high but child-father security is low, whereas there is higher cooperation and lower competition when both child-parent attachment relationships present high levels of security. These results suggest that when mothers are successful in fostering a secure attachment relationship, whereas fathers are not, the coparenting relationship may suffer as a result of increased competition and decreased cooperation between parents. As such, assuming positive family dynamics based on the examination of one relationship in isolation might be short-sighted.
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