The Secure Base Phenomenon in Preschoolers: Child Secure Base Behavior and Narratives about Using Mom as a Secure Base. Germán Posada & Garene Kaloustian Purdue University Patricia Bárrig University of Vermont Introduction Questions Procedures and Assessment Results Conclusions Research on the development of children’s attachment related representations during early childhood is central to our understanding of secure base relationships transition from a sensory-motor to a representational modus operandi. Little research has been conducted to determine the organization (i.e., structure) of such budding attachment representations. This scarcity of research is in part due to the limited availability of assessment tools. Recent conceptual and methodological innovations that integrate cognitive psychological (scripts) and attachment (the secure base phenomenon) related concepts have made assessments of the organization of secure base knowledge/representations in children readily accessible. 1) Is there an association between preschoolers’ secure base behavior organization and their attachment representations, i.e., secure base scriptedness? 2) Is secure base scriptedness associated with children’s verbal ability and gender, and with mother’s education? If so, 3) Are secure base behavior and attachment representations associated after controlling for those variables? Attachment Representations were assessed using the MacArthur Story Stems. Children were presented with three different story stems (Spilled Juice, Hurt Knee, Monster in the Bedroom) and asked to complete each story after being prompted by a researcher. Stories were coded based upon Waters, Rodrigues & Ridgeway (1998) secure base scriptedness scale: 1= no secure base script; 2= Middle; 3= clear secure base script. Each story was rated by 2 researchers. Inter-observer Reliability Monster in the Bedroom .87 Spilled Juice .80 Hurt Knee .80 The findings presented: 1. Support the hypothesis that secure base behavior organization is related to children’s organization of attachment represented information. Specifically, the more a child’s behavior during interactions with mother reflects the secure base phenomenon, the more her/his narratives regarding attachment events reveal a secure base script. 2. Provide support to the notion that attachment representations are organized (structured) as secure base scripts. Question 1: The association between secure base behavior and secure base scriptedness. Scriptedness Security Global .40 ** Home .39 ** Park .28 * ** p< .01 * p< .05 Participants 76 predominantly Caucasian (80%) preschooler-mother dyads from non-clinical, middle class sectors of the population. Gender: 35 boys and 41 girls. Age: M= 51.2 months; sd= 8.24 Range: 36 – 75 months. Mothers’ years of education: M= 16.6; Range: 9 – 24; sd= 2.46 Question 2: Associations between scriptedness and children’s verbal ability and gender, and mother’s education. Scriptedness PPVT .13 ns Mom’s education -.03 ns t-test N M sd t M-diff p Boys 35 1.91 .61 2.47 -.35 < .05 Girls 41 2.27 .63 Children’s vocabulary knowledge was assessed with the Peabody Vocabulary Test (PPVT). The PPVT was used for discriminant validity purposes. We wanted to rule out the possibility that verbal skills may account for differences in participants’ scores on scriptedness. PPVT standardized scores were used in analysis. Maternal education was assessed as years of schooling mothers reported. 3. Empirically support the validity of the methodological approach used to assess preschoolers’ attachment mental representations. 4. Indicate that the secure base scriptedness of children’s narratives do not seem to reflect their verbal skills, or be related to mother’s level of education, or child’s gender. 5. Open a window to look at the construction and elaboration of secure base scripts during the preschool years and beyond. Based on Bretherton’s (1990) work and on social-cognitive developmental theory, Waters and associates (1998) suggest that attachment representations could be understood as scripts about secure base relationships. Using the secure base phenomenon concept, they proposed a procedure to rate child narratives in response to attachment related events in terms of secure base scriptedness. Procedures and Assessment Secure Base Behavior was observed both at home (2 hrs.) and at the park (1 hr.) using the Attachment Q-Set. 50 of 76 Park Visits were double coded (Reliability based on inter-observer agreement was .75) 60 of 76 Home Visits were double coded (Reliability based on inter-observer agreement was .76) Composite q-descriptions for the home and park were obtained. Also an overall q-composite was calculated. A global security score and security scores for the home and park were calculated for each child by correlating her/his q-descriptions with a security criterion sort that describes the hypothetically secure child. The correlation coefficients are a child’s security scores. Question 3: Associations between secure base behavior and scriptedness after controlling for gender. Scriptedness Security Global .40 ** Home .40 ** Park .28 * ** p< .01 * p< .05 This secure base script has an order of events that leads to a typical story: The child is engaged in the environment or the dyad is interacting in a warm manner, an obstacle or conflict is introduced (e.g., a minor injury to the child), assistance is requested and offered by the caregiver, the help is successful in resolving the conflict, and the child is able to go back to activity or the dyad is able to return to productive interaction. Scripted information about the secure base phenomenon presumably reflects the typical experiences in the domain of attachment relationships. Results Descriptive Statistics M sd Range Security Global .49 .18 -.14 -- .75 Home .42 .19 -.16 -- .73 Park .43 .20 -.23 -- .71 Scriptedness 2.11 .64 1 – 3 PPVT 111.7 14.2 60 -- 150 Mom’s education 16.56 2.47 9 -- 16 Correspondence can be addressed to: Germán Posada, gposada@purdue.edu or Garene Kaloustian, gkaloust@purdue.edu