In the years that have followed Ainsworth’s ground-breaking research, researchers have investigated a variety of factors that may help determine whether children develop secure or insecure relationships with their primary attachment figures. As mentioned above, one of the key determinants of attachment patterns is the history of sensitive and responsive interactions between the caregiver and the child. In short, when the child is uncertain or stressed, the ability of the caregiver to provide support to the child is critical for his or her psychological development. It is assumed that such supportive interactions help the child learn to regulate his or her emotions, give the child the confidence to explore the environment, and provide the child with a safe haven during stressful circumstances.
Evidence for the role of sensitive caregiving in shaping attachment patterns comes from longitudinal and experimental studies. For example, Grossmann et al. (1985) studied parent–child interactions in the homes of 54 families up to three times during the first year of the child’s life. At 12 months of age, infants and their mothers participated in the strange situation. Grossmann and her colleagues found that children who were classified as secure in the strange situation at 12 months of age were more likely than children classified as insecure to have mothers who provided responsive care to their children in the home environment.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Is attachment style multi-generational? How does one person’s childhood attachment style translate to the way that person interacts with his or her own children? [“Flower Hmong mother and baby” by Linda De Volder/Flickr is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.]
Dymphna van den Boom (1994) developed an intervention that was designed to enhance maternal sensitive responsiveness. When their infants were 9 months of age, the mothers in the intervention group were rated as more responsive and attentive in their interaction with the infants compared to mothers in the control group. In addition, their infants were rated as more sociable, more self-soothing, and more likely to explore the environment. At 12 months of age, children in the intervention group were more likely to be classified as secure than insecure in the strange situation.
