ERIC Number: EJ1481868
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: EISSN-1467-8624
Available Date: 2025-05-13
Maternal Sensitivity Predicts Child Attachment in a Non-Western Context: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study of Chinese Families
Theodore E. A. Waters1,2; Rui Yang1; Yufei Gu1,2; Victoria Zhu1; Lixian Cui3; Xuan Li3,4; Niobe Way2; Hirokazu Yoshikawa2; Xinyin Chen5; Sumie Okazaki2; Kristen Bernard6; Guangzhen Zhang7; Zongbao Liang7
Child Development, v96 n5 p1575-1589 2025
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.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mothers, Affective Behavior, Attachment Behavior, Parent Child Relationship, Infants, Toddlers, Preadolescents, Predictor Variables
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.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE; 2New York University, New York, New York, USA; 3New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China; 4University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 5University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 6Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA; 7Southeast University, Nanjing, China

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