Child Attachment and Temperament

A longitudinal study was conducted to find relations among child attachment at 14 months, behavioral inhibition at 24 months, and social behaviors with unfamiliar peers at the age of 4 years (Burgess, Marshall, Rubin, & Fox, 2003). Behavioral inhibition was observed and measured by bringing a child to an unfamiliar playroom, and then having the child encounter new toys, a stranger, an inflated tunnel, and a clown in a sequence.

Children with insecure-avoidant attachment tend to have uninhibited behavior. Behaviorally uninhibited children show little fear of novelty and readily approach unfamiliar peers. They are likely to grow up to become extrovert, outgoing and sociable when their temperament is balanced. However, when their temperament is left dysregulated, uninhibited children with avoidant attachment in infancy tend to show frustration, anger or even aggression toward situations beyond their control.

The study also found that avoidant children often have lower heart rate and decreased cardiac arousal. This finding suggests that parenting style based on detachment and indifference may influence the development of an underaroused physiological profile.

In contrast, children with secure or ambivalent attachment tend to have inhibited behavior in the face of novelty (Burgess, Marshall, Rubin, & Fox, 2003). In a novel situation, behaviorally inhibited children display more reticent behaviors among unfamiliar peers.

Statistical analyses (ANOVA) of Colorado Child Temperament Inventory test and Child Behavior Checklists given to parents of the study sample revealed that avoidant children had higher aggression scores, and that low-inhibition children had higher activity and lower withdrawal scores (Burgess, Marshall, Rubin, & Fox, 2003).