Infant-parent attachment and parental and child behavior during parent-toddler storybook interaction

Longitudinal associations between infant-parent attachment and parental and toddler behavior during storybook interaction were examined for 131 lower-middle to middle-class families (70 girls; 61 boys). At ages 12 and 15 months, infant-mother and infant-father dyads were videotaped in the laboratory-based Strange Situation procedure to assess attachment. At 24 months, dyads visited the laboratory and were videotaped during storybook interaction. Infants with a history of insecure-resistant attachment with their mothers were less enthusiastic and focused during storybook interaction. Moreover, mothers of insecure-resistant infants were less warm and supportive, more hostile and intrusive, more detached, and less stimulating of cognitive development than mothers of secure or avoidant infants. Disorganized attachment did not predict the quality of storybook interaction and few attachment-related differences were found when the toddler-father dyad was considered.