A QUALITATIVE APPROACH OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE TODDLER’S ATTACHMENT STYLE AND THE DYADIC INTERACTION WITH THE MOTHER
Keywords:
mother-toddler interaction; attachment styles; video analysis, qualitative research.Abstract
The quality of toddler’s experience with the caregiver impacts the structuring of the internal working models of attachment (Bowlby, 1980, 1988), further used as means of comfort and security, and prototypes for later close relationships. Using inductive qualitative techniques, our study aims to describe specific schemes of mother-toddler interaction, for each of the attachment styles. Semi-structured interactions of 27 mother-child dyads were videotaped in their familiar environment and the films were qualitatively analyzed, for each group of toddlers previously identified as having the same attachment style. The interactions of secure toddlers and their mothers were marked by synchronized actions, joy of interacting, closeness, and security. Mothers of ambivalent children displayed a more dominant action, with discordances between the social and psychological level of communication. Avoidant toddler-mother dyads presented a higher balance between their relational spaces, maintaining contact, with a low level of intimacy. The absence of a coherent strategy defined the interaction between the toddlers with disorganized attachment and their mothers. Our results confirm previous findings in the field of attachment in early childhood and add up to these results by providing a methodology to approach these interactions and the use of video recordings as ways to develop interventions aiming to increase the attachment security.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG. Die Qualität der Interaktion von Kleinkindern mit ihren Bezugspersonen wirkt auf die Strukturierung der inneren Arbeitsmodelle (Bowlby, 1980, 1988) ein. Diese Arbeitsmodelle werden als Mittel in der Suche nach Trost und Sicherheit und als Prototypen für spätere enge Beziehungen benutzt. Unsere Studie nimmt sich vor, Mutter-Kleinkind-Interaktionen für jeden Bindungstyp durch induktive qualitative Techniken zu beschreiben. Dazu wurden die halbstrukturierten Interaktionen von 27 Mutter-Kind Zweiergruppen in ihrem gewohnten Umgebung auf Video aufgezeichnet. Danach wurden die Aufnahmen für jede Gruppe von Kleinkindern, die zuvor die gleiche Bindungsart aufgewiesen hatten, einer qualitativen Analyse unterzogen. Die Interaktionen zwischen sicher gebundenen Kindern und ihren Müttern sind von synchronisierten Handlungen, Freude an Interaktion, Nähe und Sicherheit geprägt. Die Mütter von ambivalent gebundenen Kindern zeigen sich dominanter in ihren Handlungen, wobei auch Widesprüche zwischen der sozialen und psychologischen Kommunikationsebene zu beobachten sind. Das Gleichgewicht zwischen den Bindungsräumen von vermeidenden Kindern und ihren Müttern war besser, sie halten Kontakt, jedoch mit kleinem Vertrautheitsgrad. Die Interaktion zwischen desorganisiert gebundenen Kleinkindern und ihren Müttern wies den Mangel an einer kohärenten Strategie vor. Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen vorausgegangene Untersuchungen über frühkindliche Bindung und ergänzen diese durch die Erstellung einer Analysemethode dieser Interaktionen und durch die Verwendung von Videoaufnahmen als Entwicklungsmöglichkeit für Interventionen zur Verbesserung der Bindungssicherheit der Kinder.
Schlüsselwörter: Mutter-Kleinkind-Interaktion; Bindungstypen; Videoanalyse; qualitative Untersuchung
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