The relationship of preschool and early school age attachment to mother-child interaction.

This article focuses on the description and meaning of attachment relationships and their relation to patterns of caregiver-child interaction. Concepts fundamental to coding separation-reunion behavior in older children (J. Cassidy & R. S. Marvin, 1992; M. Main & J. Cassidy, 1988) are discussed and then applied to delineating the distinct patterns characterizing secure, avoidant, dependent, and disorganized/controlling at preschool and school age. A scale for rating the quality and relationship structure of adult-child interaction is described. Analyses comparing the interactive patterns of 121 mother-child (ages 5-7 years) dyads revealed a significant difference among the 4 attachment groups and specifically distinguished disorganized/controlling dyads. The study validates current school age attachment measures as well as a new taxonomy suitable for further research in naturalistic or clinical settings.