The association between self-reported mother-child attachment and social initiative and withdrawal in Chinese school-aged children.
The purpose of this study was to examine relations between mother-child attachment and social initiative and withdrawal in Chinese urban children. Participants were 487 school-aged children (247 boys, 240 girls) in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Data on mother-child attachment styles were collected from children's self-reports. Information concerning social initiative and social withdrawal (i.e., shyness and social disinterest) was obtained from peer nomination. Path analyses revealed that secure attachment was positively associated with social initiative, whereas ambivalent-insecure attachment was positively associated with shyness. However, avoidant-insecure attachment was not significantly associated with social disinterest. In addition, a number of gender and developmental differences were also observed.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Educational Psychology, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China. bbchen@cuhk.edu.hk
Bin-Bin
BB
Chen
D002648:Child; D002681:China; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012792:Shyness; D012963:Sociometric Techniques