Predicting children's anxiety from early attachment relationships

Abstract

This study assessed whether infants with anxious-ambivalent attachment develop higher levels of anxiety later in childhood than do infants with secure attachment. Infants (N=136) participated in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure at 12 months of age. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) was completed by children and their mothers at 11 years of age. Results show that compared with children who were securely attached in infancy, children who were ambivalently attached had higher levels of school phobia, and, that compared with boys who were securely attached boys who were ambivalently attached had higher levels of social phobia at 11 years. However, in this normative sample, anxious-ambivalent attachment was not related to anxiety levels that approach pathological significance. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research on associations between attachment and anxiety disorders.