Open mother–pre-schooler communication: Relations with early secure attachment

Abstract

The study examined the links between early infant-mother attachment assessed using Ainsworth's Strange Situation at 1 year and mother-pre-schooler communication at 4.5 years in 113 mother-child dyads. Mother-child communication was assessed during a reunion that followed a one-hour separation and was classified into one of three Open communication or one of five Non-open communication patterns. Results showed that boys who were classified as Secure (B) in infancy tended to have open communication with their mothers, while children of both genders who were classified as Insecure/Disorganized (D) in infancy were likely to have non-open communication with their mothers. No associations were found between the Insecure/Ambivalent (C) attachment pattern and later communication. The contributions of this study to the understanding of the expression of the secure base phenomenon in open mother-child communication are discussed.

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