Early Attachment and Later
Development
Thompson, R. A. (1999). Early
attachment and later development. In J.
Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.),
Handbook of attachment: Theory,
research, and clinical applications (pp.
265-286). New York: Guilford Press.
Research on the Influence of
Attachment on Later Outcomes
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parent-child relations;
relations with peers, friends, and siblings;
behavior with unfamiliar adults;
competence in preschool and
kindergarten;
exploration and play;
intelligence and language ability;
ego resilience and ego control;
frustration tolerance;
curiousity;
self-recognition;
social cognition;
behavioral problems and other indicators
of psychopathology;
“and many other variables” (Thompson,
1999, p. 265).
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Research Methods used to Study
Attachment & Preview of Findings
 Longitudinal follow-up studies have been
conducted for periods from months to
decades.
 Measurement has included
 self report;
 reports from parents, teachers, and peers;
 standardized testing;
 “and a variety of other assessments”
(Thompson, 1999, p. 265).
 General Preview of Research Findings
about Consequence of Attachment:
 Relationships are multi-influential.
 Outcomes are multidetermined.
 Continuity is complex and multifaceted.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Internal Working Models
 Experiences with caregivers influences
expectations about future relationships.
 Working models seem to be “based on a
network of developing representations that
emerge successively but interactively with
age (from Thompson, 1998). There seem
to be four interrelated representational
systems that are both conscious and
unconscious:
 Social expectations about caregivers that are
developed during the first year that are
subsequently elaborated.
 Event representations: beginning in the third
year general and specific memories about
attachment experiences are stored.
 Beginning at age four, individuals begin to
create their own narratives and selfunderstandings about self and relationships.
 Beginning in the third and fourth years, the
individual begins to form conclusions about
characteristics of others and relationship
expectations.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Significance of Developmental
Processes on Attachment
 Earliest representations provide important
information about caregiver
responsiveness, but the representations
are fairly simplistic and “they probably do
not provide the conceptual foundation for
the sophisticated and complex
representations of self and relationships in
other years” (Thompson, 1999, pp. 267268).
 Working models are continuously revised
and updated throughout development
 “[T]heir impact on a child’s psychosocial
functioning at any particular age may depend
on the security of the representations that are
developed at that particular time” (Thompson,
1999, p. 268).
 “[D]ifferent facets of working models (e.g.,
social expectations, autobiographical memory)
have not only different developmental
timetables but perhaps also different periods
of critical influence.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Significance of Developmental
Processes on Attachment (cont.)
 Caregivers not only influence attachment
by the quality of care they provide but
also by the interpretation of that care
because their interpretation may be
adopted by the child.
 Thompson concludes that, for these
reasons, it is important to consider
working models in a developmental
context in order to understand them as a
source of developmental continutiy.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Ontogenetic Adaptations
 Assumption: attachment is adaptive.
 Hypothesis: insecure forms of attachment
are functional for the particular context
that a child experiences (e.g., resistant
attachment that develops because of
inadequate caregiving may promote
greater self-reliance).
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Emergent Personality and Social
Skills
 Attachment has the potential to shape
aspects of developing personality/identity.
 Attachment is expected to influence
 sociability,
 emotional predispositions,
 curiosity,
 self-esteem,
 independence,
 cooperation,
 trust.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Reasons for Developmental
Discontinuity or “It Depends”
 Juvenile Adaptations
 Consistency and Change in Parent-Child
Relationships
 Multidetermined and Differentiated
Outcomes
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Empirical Perspectives
 Parent-Child Relationship
 Findings are inconsistent about the influence
of early attachment on quality of parent-child
relationships at a later date.
 Inconsistent findings suggest “considerable
flexibility in the interactive harmony of parentchild relationships"”(Thompson, 1999, p. 275).
 Other Close Relationships
 Attachment relationships seem to be
associated with sociability during the same
age period.
 Influence of attachment on later sociability is
mixed.
 Encounters with Unfamiliar Partners
 Children often behave with other adults in a
manner similar to the way they behave with
their own caregivers.
 Interactions with peers does not seem to be
based on behaviors with parents.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
Empirical Perspectives (cont.)
 Personality
 Research findings are inconsistent.
 Inconsistency is probably related to problems
in measurement as well as the multidetermined nature of the influence of
attachment.
 Representations of Self, Others, and
Relationships
 Research suggests that early attachment does
influence representations of self and others.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson
The Lessons of Early Relationships
 There seems to be a “modest”
relationship between early attachment
and later outcomes.
 Influence of attachment seems to be
“more contingent and provisional than
earlier expected” (Thompson, 1999, p.
280).
 Intervening events seem to moderate
influence of attachment.
 Thompson reminds us that attachment is
only one dimension of the parent-child
relationship. He noted that Bowlby
recognized this as well.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson