Journal Article

Interactional Synchrony and the Origins of Infant-Mother Attachment: A Replication Study

Belsky, Jay, Isabella, Russell A.

1991

Overview

This study sought to replicate previous work in testing the hypothesis that interactions of dyads developing secure attachment relationships would be characterized by disproportionately synchronous and those of dyads developing insecure relationships by disproportionately asynchronous exchanges. Additionally, a priori hypotheses were tested regarding expected differences in the interactional histories of dyads developing insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments. Results supported the study's predictions in all cases. Dyads developing secure attachments were observed at 3 and 9 months to interact in a disproportionately well-timed, reciprocal, and mutually rewarding manner; dyads developing insecure relationships were disproportionately characterized by interactions in which mothers were minimally involved, unresponsive to infant signals, or intrusive. Within the insecure group, as predicted, 3- and 9-month interactions of avoidant dyads were characterized by maternal intrusiveness and overstimulation; resistant dyads were characterized at both ages by poorly coordinated interactions in which mothers were underinvolved and inconsistent. These findings are discussed as they lend to a growing body of evidence concerning associations between differential interactional histories and attachment quality.

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press,Blackwell,University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc,Oxford University Press
• Subject: A priori knowledge / Adult / Attachment / Attachment Behavior / Behavior / Biological and medical sciences / Child development / Developmental psychology / Dyadic interaction / Dyadic relations / Dyads / Female / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Humans / Infant / Infants / Maternal Responsiveness / Modeling / Mother-Child Relations / Mothers / Object Attachment / Observational research / Parent Child Relationship / Parents & parenting / Personal relationships / Post hoc / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Reproducibility / Security (Psychology) / Social interaction / Social research / Synchrony / Time Factors / Vocalization / Vocalized behavior / Working mothers