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Early childhood attachment stability and change: a meta-analysis.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Opie, Jessica E 
McIntosh, Jennifer E 
Esler, Timothy B 
Duschinsky, Robbie 
George, Carol 

Abstract

Examining degrees of stability in attachment throughout early childhood is important for understanding developmental pathways and for informing intervention. Updating and building upon all prior meta-analyses, this study aimed to determine levels of stability in all forms of attachment classifications across early childhood. Attachment stability was assessed between three developmental epochs within early childhood: infancy, toddlerhood, and preschool/early school. To ensure data homogeneity, only studies that assessed attachment with methods based on the strange situation procedure were included. Results indicate moderate levels of stability at both the four-way (secure, avoidant, resistant, and disorganised; κ = 0.23) and secure/insecure (r = 0.28) levels of assessment. Meta-regression analysis indicated security to be the most stable attachment organisation. This study also found evidence for publication bias, highlighting a preference for the publication of significant findings.

Description

Keywords

Attachment, early childhood, meta-analysis, publication bias, stability, Child, Preschool, Humans, Infant, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment

Journal Title

Attach Hum Dev

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1461-6734
1469-2988

Volume Title

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (103343/Z/13/A)
Medical Humanities Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust [Grant Number WT103343MA].