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Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights

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A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 November 2022) | Viewed by 9590

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Manuela Verissimo

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Guest Editor

William James Center for Research, ISPA–Instituto Universitário, 1149-089 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: quality of attachment during infancy and childhood; social and emotional development; father/child interaction and relationship; child obesity and sleep

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This topic aims to emphasize the connection between the quality of secure-base relationships during infancy and childhood and a range of outcomes in the domain of social and emotional development. Social and emotional development refers to how children start to understand who they are, what they feel and what to expect when interacting with others. It is the development of being able to form and sustain positive relationships as well as experience, manage and express emotions. We believe that attachment theory needs to incorporate the notion that a child builds an attachment network in the first years of life that will constrain his/her development; in this sense, papers that include the role of the father/child interaction and relationship are especially welcome. Finally, we also invite papers profoundly embodied in both developmental and cross-cultural perspectives. Clinicians and researchers are invited to submit relevant original articles in both the clinical and research fields, articles, reviews, and case reports to this Special Issue of Children, “Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights”.

Prof. Dr. Manuela Verissimo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

emotional development
child development
father/child interaction
social ethology
emotions

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 309 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Associations between Father Involvement and Father–Daughter Relationship Quality on Girls’ Experience of Social Bullying Victimization

by Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Esther K. Malm and Cana Kim

Children 2022, 9(12), 1976; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9121976 - 16 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1632

Abstract

With much research into physical, cyber, and verbal bullying victimization, social bullying victimization is a type of victimization that can be hidden. Studies about Black father involvement have found involvement to be a buffer to adverse and risky behaviors of children, including different forms of victimization experienced by their daughters. This study examined one gap in the literature: the direct and potentially indirect associations between father involvement and father–child relationship quality on child reports of social bullying victimization among girls. The cross-sectional sample of 368 Black fathers and their daughters was sourced from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. Data from wave 5 were selected for the child (age 9) and father because social bullying victimization was first measured at this time point. Logistic regression analysis findings showed father involvement was associated with lower social bullying victimization. In addition, talking and sharing ideas quite well rather than extremely well with their fathers was associated with higher odds of social bullying victimization. Father–daughter relationship quality did not mediate the father involvement and social bullying victimization relationship. Findings provide additional support to include fathers, particularly Black fathers, in intervention/prevention efforts and the importance of increasing awareness and benefits of father involvement in subtle forms of victimization such as social bullying victimization among Black families. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights)

11 pages, 283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Parenting Stress in Fathers: Do We Need Father Specific Reference Samples? And Do They Differ in Regard of Taking Parental Leave?

by Nina Krüger and Johanna Nuria Rüther

Children 2022, 9(9), 1363; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9091363 - 7 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1370

Abstract

The German version of the Parenting stress Index from Abidin, the Eltern-Belastungs-Inventar (EBI) merely provides reference samples of 538 mothers of children in toddlers and preschool age. Although meant to measure parenting stress, there are no father specific reference samples provided. The aim was to investigate differences in parenting stress between fathers and the provided reference samples of German mothers. Furthermore, the aim was to examine potential differences in the perceived stress between fathers who did and those who did not take parental leave. A total of 497 fathers living in Germany, of which more than half took parental leave, filled out the questionnaire via an online survey or the paper-pencil-version. All fathers completed the EBI and provided socio-economic data. The collected data were analyzed in terms of test quality, such as mean and standard deviation, corrected item–total correlation and reliability. Moreover, differences between the provided norm data and our sample were calculated. Analyses showed that fathers reported significantly higher levels of parenting stress than mothers. Furthermore, fathers taking parental leave did not differ significantly from those who did not, regarding their level of education or their perceived parenting stress. In conclusion, as it stands right now, the EBI does not adequately measure parenting stress in fathers, and father specific norms are needed to properly assess their levels of parenting stress. The results concerning parenting stress and parental leave were thus inconclusive. Furthermore, since reducing parenting stress in fathers is beneficial for the child’s development and the welfare of the parents, further studies focusing on fathers’ parenting stress are needed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights)

12 pages, 915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Child’s Age, Sex, and Temperament in Father Involvement during the Pre-School Years

by Carolina Santos, Lígia Monteiro and Nuno Torres

Children 2022, 9(9), 1327; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9091327 - 31 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1607

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of the study was to explore how child’s characteristics (age, sex, and temperament) were associated with father’s involvement in child-related activities. In a sample of 410 bi-parental families with pre-school age children. (2) Methods: Dividing the sample into two age groups, OLS regression models were conducted for each dimension of father involvement with child characteristics as predicting variables. (3) Results: for the younger children (3 and 4 years) fathers were more involved in teaching/discipline and played with their more extroverted daughters. With older children (5 and 6 years), fathers were more involved in teaching/discipline and played when children were higher on negative-affectivity. An interaction was found with boys’ higher negative-affectivity, predicting fathers’ higher involvement in teaching and discipline. (4) Conclusions: Our results suggest that children’s characteristics have an impact on what fathers do, particularly in a dimension salient to pre-school years such as teaching/discipline. This can help build tailored empirical-sustained programs aiming to encourage and support fathers’ positive involvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights)

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15 pages, 1032 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Controlled Trial Evaluating the Impact of a Home-Visiting Program on Maternal Disruptive Communication in a Vulnerable Population

by Susana Tereno, Tim Greacen and Antoine C. Guedeney

Children 2022, 9(8), 1166; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9081166 - 3 Aug 2022

Viewed by 1248

Abstract

Attachment disorganization is a significant high-risk factor for infant mental health. Its association with high-risk psychosocial contexts has been clearly identified, but the link between these difficult social contexts and maternal disruptive communication has been poorly explored. The CAPEDP (Compétences Parentales et Attachement dans la Petite Enfance; Parental competences and attachment in early childhood) study assessed the effects of a manualized home-intervention on the mental health of children and its major determinants. In this controlled trial, 440 young, first-time mothers belonging to socially vulnerable populations were recruited. Mothers in the intervention group received psychological support from the 27th week of pregnancy through to their child’s second birthday, while both groups received assessment visits at the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 18th, and 24th months of age of the child and benefited from assistance by the research team. When the children reached 12 months of age, an ancillary study, the CAPEDP-Attachment (n = 119) evaluated the effects of this intervention on attachment. The current paper describes the program’s impact on this subsample concerning maternal disruptive behavior, while exploring the role of socioeconomic risk factors. Our results showed that: (a) mothers in the intervention (IG) group presented significantly less disruptive communication than those in the control group (CG), even though the CG received a significant level of care over and above that which is available to the public in the French health system as ‘care as usual’; (b) having a “low income” and “having given birth prematurely” was associated with maternal disruptive communication; and (c) the intervention impact increased when the model was adjusted for these two variables. Results suggest that attachment focused intervention programs should invest both maternal interactional skills and social and economic vulnerability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights)

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Other

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14 pages, 1020 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Attachment and the Development of Prosocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

by Mariana Costa Martins, Carolina Santos, Marília Fernandes and Manuela Veríssimo

Children 2022, 9(6), 874; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9060874 - 12 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3057

Abstract

(1) Background: One key assumption of attachment theory is the relationship between security and the development of prosocial behavior. A secure child is more likely to feel and show concern for another individual, resulting in higher levels of prosocial behaviors (defined as voluntary behavior intended to benefit others—e.g., helping, sharing, comforting). (2) Method: Using a systematic review of the literature (PROSPERO: CRD42022290706), 703 articles were identified (EBSCO databases), from which 16 were considered eligible by the first two authors (inter-reviewer agreement: 85.714%). The criteria for an article’s exclusion were as follows: samples of children/teens not living in natural contexts; studies on psychopathologies; intervention programs; qualitative designs; studies on development or the validation of measures; studies that did not reliably measure the variables studied. (3) Results and Discussion: The eligible studies revealed incongruous results about the potential associations between attachment security to mothers and fathers and prosocial behavior. More consistent and significant relationships were found between the quality of attachment and empathy, while the associations between attachment and prosocial behavior were inconsistent (e.g., nine articles revealed significant associations; seven did not). In six studies, empathy was revealed to play an important role as the mediator between attachment security and prosocial behavior. The limitations and future recommendations were discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Attachment and Social Development: Old Questions, New Insights)

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