Assessing both safe haven and secure base support in parent-child relationships

Although the attachment construct refers to a child's tendency to use an attachment figure both as a safe haven in times of distress as well as a secure base from which to explore, approaches to assessing attachment at older ages have focused on safe haven behavior. We tested modified versions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attachment & human development 2015-07, Vol.17 (4), p.337-353
Main Authors: Kerns, Kathryn A., Mathews, Brittany L., Koehn, Amanda J., Williams, Cierra T., Siener-Ciesla, Shannon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adjustment
Adolescent
attachment
Child
Children & youth
Correlation analysis
Data Collection - methods
Data Collection - standards
Educational Status
emotion regulation
Emotional disorders
Father-Child Relations
fathers
Female
Humans
Male
Mother-Child Relations
Object Attachment
Parent-Child Relations
parent-child relationships
Parents & parenting
school adjustment
Social Skills
Social support
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Summary:Although the attachment construct refers to a child's tendency to use an attachment figure both as a safe haven in times of distress as well as a secure base from which to explore, approaches to assessing attachment at older ages have focused on safe haven behavior. We tested modified versions of the Friends and Family Interview and the Security Scale Questionnaire to examine separately the correlates of safe haven and secure base support from parents. The main study (n = 107 children, 10-14-year-olds) included both interview and questionnaire assessments of safe haven and secure base support from mothers and fathers. The two methods converged in expected ways, and both showed associations with narrative coherence. Children reported greater safe haven support from mothers and greater secure base support from fathers, suggesting secure base support is a key aspect of father-child attachment. Both mother-child and father-child relationships were related to children's school adjustment and coping.
ISSN:1461-6734
1469-2988
DOI:10.1080/14616734.2015.1042487