Children's attachment-related self-worth: a multi-method investigation of postdivorce preschoolers’ relationships with their mothers and peers

Abstract

Three related hypotheses derived from attachment theory were examined in this multi-informant and multi-method study of 71 postdivorce mothers and their preschool children (40 boys, 31 girls): (1) mother–child interactions observed at home will be related to attachment-related representations by children (Attachment Story Completion Task or ASCT) and mothers (Parent Attachment Interview or PAI); and (2) these variables will be inversely correlated with maternal depressive symptoms and positively with social support (from mother's parents and the child's father); and (3) mother–child observations and representations will predict teacher-rated peer behavior. Where appropriate, child gender, maternal income, and child receptive language were statistically controlled. More harmonious observed mother–child interactions were associated with children's sense of self-worth in family relationships (ASCT) and maternal accounts of sensitive-effective guidance (PAI). Observational and representational variables were inversely correlated with maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers' satisfaction with social support from their parents was indirectly linked to the family variables while social support from the child's father had no measurable effect on the mother–child variables. Mother–child variables and teacher ratings were uncorrelated but explained independent variance in ASCT self-worth scores.

Keywords:

• attachment story completion task
• self-worth
• preschool children
• divorced mothers
• social support
• depression
• peer relationships

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by NICHD grant R01 HD26766 awarded to the first author. Additional support was received from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School Research Committee, the Waisman Center, and the Vilas Trust. We express our deepest appreciation to the mothers and children who participated in this study. In addition, we thank Ann Garvey, Chris Halvorsen, Patti Herman, Kris Lefeber, Vicky Lenzlinger, Kristine Munholland, Geetika Tiwari, ReghanWalsh, and Laura Winn for assistance with data collection and analysis. We are also grateful for very helpful comments by Howard Steele and two anonymous reviewers.