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 laten...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 2019-05, Vol.90 (3), p.694-707
Main Authors: Waters, Theodore E.A., Facompré, Christopher R., Dujardin, Adinda, Van De Walle, Magali, Verhees, Martine, Bodner, Najda, Boldt, Lea J., Bosmans, Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Attachment
Child
Child Development - physiology
Childhood
Children
Cross-Sectional Studies
Discontinuity
Discriminant analysis
Female
Humans
Latent class analysis
Male
Object Attachment
Risk assessment
Taxometric analysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/cdev.13229