View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Maternal Sensitivity Predicts Child Attachment in a Non-Western Context: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study of Chinese Families

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Maternal Sensitivity Predicts Child Attachment in a Non-Western Context: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study of Chinese Families
Language: English
Authors: Theodore E. A. Waters (ORCID 0000-0002-4395-220X), Rui Yang (ORCID 0000-0001-5045-5132), Yufei Gu, Victoria Zhu, Lixian Cui (ORCID 0000-0001-5706-9525), Xuan Li (ORCID 0000-0001-9638-128X), Niobe Way, Hirokazu Yoshikawa (ORCID 0000-0001-5607-8526), Xinyin Chen (ORCID 0009-0009-2613-1352), Sumie Okazaki, Kristen Bernard, Guangzhen Zhang, Zongbao Liang
Source: Child Development. 2025 96(5):1575-1589.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mothers, Affective Behavior, Attachment Behavior, Parent Child Relationship, Infants, Toddlers, Preadolescents, Predictor Variables
Geographic Terms: China
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14256
ISSN: 0009-3920
1467-8624
Abstract: Despite the long-standing debate over the assumed universality of maternal sensitivity predicting attachment security (i.e., sensitivity hypothesis), few long-term longitudinal investigations on attachment have been conducted outside the Western context. We leveraged data from a prospective 9-year longitudinal study of middle-class families (N = 356; female = 48.9%) in China to examine if early maternal sensitivity predicts attachment representations in middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity was assessed from lab-based observed interactions at 14 and 24 months. At 10 years old, children completed the Chinese version of the Attachment Script Assessment. Maternal sensitivity positively predicted the child's attachment representations at age 10 years ([beta] = 0.20, p < 0.01). These results supported the view that maternal sensitivity is prospectively related to secure attachment across cultures.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1481868
Database: ERIC
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Description
Abstract:Despite the long-standing debate over the assumed universality of maternal sensitivity predicting attachment security (i.e., sensitivity hypothesis), few long-term longitudinal investigations on attachment have been conducted outside the Western context. We leveraged data from a prospective 9-year longitudinal study of middle-class families (N = 356; female = 48.9%) in China to examine if early maternal sensitivity predicts attachment representations in middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity was assessed from lab-based observed interactions at 14 and 24 months. At 10 years old, children completed the Chinese version of the Attachment Script Assessment. Maternal sensitivity positively predicted the child's attachment representations at age 10 years ([beta] = 0.20, p < 0.01). These results supported the view that maternal sensitivity is prospectively related to secure attachment across cultures.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/cdev.14256