Caregivers' Attachment Representations in Child Care

So far little is known about the factors that enhance or impair high quality of interactions and relationships between caregivers and children in early child care. According to attachment theory it is assumed that the caregiving behavior is derived to a certain amount from the caregiver's own working model of attachment. In a sample of n = 66 early childhood teachers in Germany, their attachment representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George et al., 1985). The distribution of attachment representations was comparable to the percentages of non-clinical samples in a meta-analytic study by Bakermans-Kranenburg and van IJzendoorn (2009). No significant differences between early childhood teachers in nurseries and preschools were found. However, a significant age effect was found: in younger teachers secure attachment representations were more likely and unresolved loss or trauma was less likely. Implications for research and practice are discussed.