title: Is the secure base phenomenon evident here, there, and anywhere? A cross-cultural study of child behavior and experts' definitions.
abstract: The evolutionary rationale offered by Bowlby implies that secure base relationships are common in child-caregiver dyads and thus, child secure behavior observable across diverse social contexts and cultures. This study offers a test of the universality hypothesis. Trained observers in nine countries used the Attachment Q-set to describe the organization of children's behavior in naturalistic settings. Children (N = 547) were 10-72 months old. Child development experts (N = 81) from all countries provided definitions of optimal child secure base use. Findings indicate that children from all countries use their mother as a secure base. Children's organization of secure base behavior was modestly related to each other both within and across countries. Experts' descriptions of the optimally attached child were highly similar across cultures.
authors.affiliation: Purdue University.
authors.forename: German
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Posada
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trumbell
authors.forename: Garene
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaloustian
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trudel
authors.forename: Sandra J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Plata
authors.forename: Paola P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tereno
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dugravier
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Constantini
authors.forename: Rosalinda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cassibba
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo-Ikemura
authors.forename: Magaly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nóblega
authors.forename: Ines M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Haya
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedraglio
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verissimo
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Ligia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.forename: Keng-Ling
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D015588:Observer Variation; D010372:Pediatrics; D055815:Young Adult