Emerging Topics on Father Attachment by Lisa A. Newland Harry S. Freeman Diana D. Coyl

Author:Lisa A. Newland, Harry S. Freeman, Diana D. Coyl [Lisa A. Newland, Harry S. Freeman, Diana D. Coyl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
ISBN: 9781317987055
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2014-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

Parent gender differences in the association between coparenting and attachment

Although results have been somewhat inconsistent (see Erel & Burman, 1995), numerous individual studies have shown that the father–child relationship seems to be more affected by the quality of the marital relationship than does the mother–child relationship (Belsky et al., 1991; Frosch et al., 2000; Owen & Cox, 1997; see Cummings, Goeke-Morey, & Raymond, 2004 for a review). It may be that the roles of spouse/partner and parent are more closely tied for fathers than mothers (Belsky et al., 1991; Corwyn & Bradley, 1999). A more general explanation posits that fathers are more vulnerable to external influences (i.e. those factors outside of the father himself) than are mothers (Doherty et al., 1998). This might be because the paternal role is less clearly defined by social conventions than is the role of the mother (Coiro & Emery, 1998; Lamb, 2002). Thus, the father–child attachment relationship may be especially vulnerable to variation in other family characteristics – of which the quality of the coparental relationship may be an important one.

Caldera and Lindsey (2006) were the first to provide a comprehensive examination of the associations between coparenting, infant–mother, and infant–father attachment security. Using parent-reported security scores on the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS; Waters, 1987) in a sample of 11–15-month-old children, this study found that competitive coparenting was related to both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of a less secure attachment relationship with their infant. This groundbreaking work is the most compelling evidence to date of direct links between coparenting and infant–parent attachment security.

The present study expands upon Caldera and Lindsey's work in several ways. Firstly, we adopt a longitudinal design by measuring coparenting at 3.5 months of age and attachment security at approximately one year of age rather than relying on concurrent assessments. Secondly, both maternal and paternal parenting behaviour in the dyadic context (rather than just a measure of maternal parenting) are assessed to determine whether effects of coparenting on father–child attachment are independent of the quality of fathering behaviour in the dyad. Finally, observational assessments of attachment security using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) are included, rather than relying on parental reports of the AQS. Parental reports on the AQS may be subject to social desirability biases, and a recent meta-analysis calls into question their validity (van Ijzendoorn, Vereijken, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Riksen-Walraven, 2004). These key changes were employed to provide information on the associations between coparenting and attachment that goes beyond Caldera and Lindsey's important work.

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