Insecure attachment patterns at five years. What do they tell us?

Abstract

Developmental outcomes for children whose primary caregivers are misattuned but not considered abusive are unclear. This paper argues that if by the pre-school years, insecure patterns of attachment are evident then a continuing dysfunctional attachment relationship is indicated and the likelihood of later difficulties is increased. The current study compared attachment patterns in a cohort of pre-school children from the regular community with concurrent behavioural ratings obtained from caregivers and teachers. The sample was followed up seven years later. At pre-school age, there was no association between teachers or caregiver ratings and pattern of security in the children. By pre-adolescence, children with compulsively insecure patterns showed higher levels of depression on a self-report measure. Ratings by caregivers of the pre-adolescent children did not differentiate the two groups. The paper argues that since caregiver misattunment to the child contributed to the initial problems, emotional difficulties in the pre-adolescent might go unseen.

Keywords:

• pre-school attachment
• pre-adolescent
• depression
• internalising