The effect of the nurturant bonding system on child security of attachment and dependency

Bibliographic Data

ID5958286
AuthorsWarren B Miller (corresponding author), Shirley Feldman (0009-0009-6981-8648, Stanford University), Shirley S Feldman, David J Pasta (0000-0003-2637-9293, DMA Health Strategies)
Year2002
Volume49
Issue3-4
Pages125-159
Publication date2002-09-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBiodemography and Social Biology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1948-5565 • E-ISSN: 1948-5573
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19485565.2002.9989055
PMID14652914
OpenAlexW2082062393
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited36

This paper uses a biopsychosocial theory of human bonding to explore the intergenerational transmission of bonding traits. More specifically, it examines how the nurturant bonding system of the mother affects the succorant bonding system of the young child. In the first section of the paper, we take the bonding framework proposed by Miller and Rodgers (2001) and elaborate its implications for mother-child dyads. Next, we describe the collection of data from 78 mothers prior to their pregnancy with an index child and again when that child is between the ages of two and four and a half. These data allow the creation of a number of mother and child variables that are derived from the bonding framework. Using these variables, we construct a temporally organized, structural equation model of maternal effects on the child, with the two main outcome variables being child security of attachment and child dependency. We then test the model using LISREL. Although the results are tentative and require further confirmatory research, they lend support to three broad hypotheses derived from the bonding framework. In particular, the results support the construct of a motivational substrate that affects both maternal childbearing and her child-rearing behaviors. They also indicate the importance of child temperament in the formation of the succorant bond. Finally, they demonstrate that the preconception nurturant characteristics of the mother have multiple effects on the two main outcome variables, child security of attachment and dependency. Two submodels based on predictors of these two outcomes reveal a number of pathways along which these effects take place. We conclude with a brief discussion of the lessons learned that might strengthen future studies of mother-child bonding and, more generally, the intergenerational transmission of bonding traits

Biopsychosocial model · Confirmatory factor analysis · Developmental psychology · LISREL · Structural equation modeling · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Computer Science · Engineering · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Psychology · Social Psychology

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