Attachment of school age children and the development of behavioral troubles

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to examine the association between the mother-child attachment relationship and behavioural problems among a test group of 120 Francophone Canadian children from mixed social and economic backgrounds. The Strange Situation protocol was used to measure attachment styles when the children were between the ages of five and seven years. Each child's behavioural difficulties were assessed by his or her educator or teacher during three developmental periods: 3-5 years, 5-7 years and 7-9 years. Results show that disorganized insecure attachment is associated with an increased risk of developing exteriorized and interiorized behavioural troubles between the ages of five and seven. We also observed exteriorized behavioural problems among children with anxious-ambivalent attachment, especially in the 3-5 age group. Avoidant children, usually assessed positively, received exteriorization scores during the 5-7 period which were significantly below those of securely attached children. Avoidant boys also exhibited more interiorized symptoms during this time-frame. Analyses of the persistence of behavioural problems also showed increased risk among disorganized and ambivalent children with secure or avoidant attachment styles.