Relations of Maternal Sensitivity and Temperament to linfants Attachment Security
Kyung Ja Park
Abstract
Maternal sensitivity and infant temperament were studied in relation to infant attachment security. Subjects were 47 one-year-old infants anti their mothers From intact upper-middle class families. Mothers sorted the Attachment Q-set (Waters, 1987, version 3.0) and filled out the Toddlers Temperament Questionnaire(Chu, 1992). Maternal sensitivity was observed in the home for two 3-hour sessions, and observers completed the Maternal Behavior Q-set(Pederson, Moran et al., 1990). Attachment security scores of the infants, using criterion scores developed with Korean infants, were 42, which is comparable to Previous studies. Infants who were securely attached to mothers showed more secure-based behaviors and compliance, enjoyed physical contacts, and showed less fussy/difficult behaviors with mothers. Mothers of girls were observed to be more sensitive to their infants` signals than mothers of boys. Maternal sensitivity scores were not related to infant security scores. However, maternal sensitivity was related to less compliance to mothers for boys.
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