Family cumulative risk and at-risk kindergarteners' social competence: the mediating role of parent representations of the attachment relationship

Cumulative Family Risk and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Friendship Quality

Family risk is inimical to adolescent development. The relationship between cumulative family risk and adolescent depressive symptoms was explored in the current study, with friendship quality examined as a moderator of the relationship. A sample of 595 seventh-grade students was tracked at 10-month intervals. Results suggested that exposure to cumulative family risk predicted adolescents' current and subsequent depressive symptoms, and that there was a linear, additive relationship between cumulative family risk and depressive symptoms. Friendship quality moderated the linear relationship between cumulative family risk and adolescents' current depressive symptoms. It is worth noting that the protective role of friendship quality is limited. The results highlight that the detrimental impact of family risk needs to be recognized and addressed.

Family risk and early attachment development: The differential role of parental sensitivity

Family risks are known to be detrimental to children's attachment development. This study investigated whether parental sensitivity plays different roles in early attachment development in the context of risk: Sensitivity was hypothesized to mediate risk effects on attachment, as well as a moderator that shapes the relation between risk and attachment. Multiple family risks, parental sensitivity (defined as responsivity and supportive presence), and children's attachment security of 197 infants and toddlers (M_age  = 15.25 months) and their caregivers were assessed in a prospective study with a cohort-sequential-design in Germany. Caregivers' sensitivity served as a mediator of risk effects on attachment as well as a moderator that buffers adverse consequences of risk. Early sensitivity might be relevant in setting the stage for attachment development supporting resilience.

Maternal secure base scripts predict child attachment security in an at-risk sample

Accumulating evidence indicates that individuals possess attachment, or secure base, scripts based on experiences with attachment figures, and these attachment scripts predict important outcomes such as caregiving behaviors and offspring social-emotional adjustment. However, less is known about the association between parents' secure base scripts and child attachment security within at-risk samples, i.e., those known to be at greater risk for insecurity. The current study examined the relation between maternal secure base script representations and child attachment security by extending the use of the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA; Waters & Rodrigues-Doolabh, 2004) to an at-risk sample. One-hundred mother-child pairs from a larger longitudinal study participated; the larger study focused on psychosocial risks related to parenting in a primarily low-income sample. In the present study, overall ASA script scores were first compared with two independent middle-class samples, one from a U.S. study, the other an international study. Scores and statistical patterns were comparable across all samples, indicating that the ASA was successful in tapping into maternal secure base script knowledge in our at-risk sample. The relation between maternal script scores and children's Attachment Q-Set (AQS; Waters, 1995) security scores were examined at ages 1 and 2 years. Dependency scores from the AQS were also included to establish discriminant validity for the script scores. Results indicated that maternal script knowledge predicted child security, while showing no relation to dependency scores. Findings indicate that the ASA can be an important and viable measure for assessing attachment representations in at-risk samples of caregivers.