PPT Slide
Fathers secure base support of their children
The q-set described previously was first used to assess mother’s secure base support of their 3-5 year-old children. We found that fathers’ can be scored using the same items, though this is easier when the children are a little older, 5-6 years of age. There was no significant difference between mothers’ and fathers’ q-sort scores. Informally, it seemed as though the fathers’ strategies were not strictly parallel to the mothers’. For example, fathers’ are more likely to engage in rough and tumble play.
Parents’ attachment representations
The Adult Attachment Interview, AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985: The AAI was assessed separate from, but concurrent with secure base support. The AAI coherence scale was used for the analyses. Coherence is the ability to provide a unified, believable, collaborative, free-flowing account of attachment experiences and their influence in development. Agreement between coders, r=.66, p<.001.
Family Behavior Survey; Posada & Waters, 1988): Mothers and fathers filled out self-report questions assessing disagreements across 18 topics.
Parenting Stress Index; Child Domain Subscale; Abidin, 1990: Mothers and fathers completed a self-report questionnaire assessing parenting stress. Only the Child Domain Subscale was used in the analyses.