Children's mental representations of attachment: associations with attachment security and parent-child narrative quality

The goal of this study was to examine the antecedents and correlates of children’s mental representations of attachment at 5 years (Attachment Story Completion Task, Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990; MacArthur Story Stem Battery, Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & the MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990). Predictors included children’s attachment security with mothers and fathers assessed via the Attachment Q-Set (AQS, Waters, 1987) at 3 years, and parent-child narrative quality regarding positive and negative events at 5 years. Participants included 71 children and their mothers and fathers. Structural equation models (SEM) indicated that children’s attachment security exerted a significant indirect effect on children’s mental representations through parent-child narrative quality. Specifically, children’s attachment security with fathers was related to their mental representations via father-child reminiscing about positive events, and children’s attachment security with mothers was related to their mental representations via mother-child reminiscing about negative events. Results are discussed in terms of the development and implications of attachment relationships within the family context.