Attachment theory
Bowlby- motivational system for establishing attachment to a primary caregiver- ensures the survival of the infant- attachment figure as a secure base for exploration and support in timnes of stress- theory influenced by comparitive psychology, ehtology, cognitive psychology
Type A attachment - Insecure avoidant
- 20%- anxious/avoidant- children are indifferent to where their mothers are sitting- may not cry hen mothere leaves and will not allow stranger to comfort them- indifferent to the return of the mother- carere who is rejecting
Type B attachment - Secure
- 66%- children play comfotably and react positively to a stranger when mother is present- become upset hen mother leaves and are unlikely to be consoled by a stranger- happy again when mother reappears- carer who is available, sensitive and supportive
Type C attachment - Insecure resistant
- 12%- children stay close to mother and appear very anxious even when mothers are near.- become upset when mother leaves- not comforted by the mothers return and simultaneously seek renewed contact but also reisit efforts to comfort them- carer who is inconsistent
Type D attachment - Insecure disorganised
- 2%- children seem to lack any coherent, organised method for dealing with the stress- disorganisation expresses itself in various ways, from acting dazed in their mother's presence to crying loudly whilst trying to climb onto the mothers lap.- carer who is inconsistent and may abuse the child.
Consequences of secure attachments
- socially skilled- empathic- intellectually curious- compliant- persistant- self-directed
Consequences of insecure attchments
- more depression- social withdrawal- less harmonious friendships- more disruptive- impulsive- agressive
Parent-child relationship
- vertical- complementary
Child-peer realtionship
- horizontal- reciprical
Sibling relationship
- diagonal?
What do siblings provide?
- ready source of companionship- source of learning- initiation into the social world of intentions, emotions and needs of others
Arrival of a new sibling
- child's behaviour might change- 50-92% increase in bedetting, sleep problems (Dunn and Kendrick, 1982)- Possible initial antagonism to sibling- depends on the quality of the parent-child relationship and the child's own temperament.
Spillover hypothesis
If a secure mother-child realionship- friendly sibling relationship more likely- Teti and Albard (1989)
Sibling as attachment figure - monotopism
- challenge to Bowlby's idea of monotropism (Shaffr and Emerson, 1964)
Sibling as attachment figure - monotopism - divorce
- Sibling relationships act as as buffer factors against divorce (Heatherington, 1989)
Sibling as attachment figure - monotopism - stressful life events
- SIbling relationships protective factor against stressful life events (Gass, jenkins, Dunn 2007)
Sibling as attachment figure - monotopism - qualitative
- Qualitative evidence of emotional links between infant and older sibling (Dunn and Kendrick, 1982)
Sibling as attachment figure - strange situation
Stewart (1983)- studied 10-20 month old infants with their older (preschool) siblings and their mothers.- when the mother left the room, some older siblings would comfort and reassure infant that Mum would soon return- Distresses infants were calmed by this sibling care and would return to playing with toys- siblings can provide stress relief and a secure base from which to explore.- an attachment
Sibling as caregiver - Weissner and Gallimore (1977)
common in many culture especially where women are the principal workforce- surveyed childcare practices in 186 societies- 57% had siblings/older children as caregivers
Sibling as caregiver - Bryant (1992)
- not complete parent substitues- mothets and fathers provide greater support and coping strategies.
Sibling rivalry
- worries about sibling conflict prominent amongst issues that parents bring to professionals- not a single dimension from friendly cooperation to rivalry/hostility- many sibs both intense rivalry and frindly cooperation
frequency of conflict
0-56 episodes per hour
Ambivalence of relationships - 4 dimensions
Furman & Buhrmester (1985)- Rivalry- Conflict- Control- Friendliness
Dunn and Munn (1986)
Pre-school aged children who show frequent confict with sibling were particularly likely to exhibit prosocial behaviour.- rivalry more common if differ in age by <4 yrs.
Siblings and parents
- a correlate of sibling rivalry is the perception that parental behaviours are unequal- relationships with shared parents do differ- children pick up on those differences- affects sibling relationships- percieved differential attention leads to increased sibling hostility and possible psychological dysfunction.
associations between parent-child and sibling-child relationships
- attachment theory predicts arm parnt-child relationship --> warm sibling relationship
Compensatory sibling relationship theory
- if mother child relationship is warm, sibling relationship is hostile (Dunn, 1993)but Dunn et al. (1993) found that lower parent-child negativity --> higher sibling positivity- links to parental differential treatment
Dimensions of parent-child relationsips (dunn, 1993)
- self disclosure- shared humour- connectedness- shared fntasy
Self disclosure and discussion of feelings
- aspect of intimacy seen in preschoolers relationships with parents- they both talk about their experiences- Brown and Dunn (1992) - children talk about sibling's feeling 3x more frequently- shared feelings facilitate development of understanding of other people's emotions
Shared humour
- common in parent child relationships- indicates warm emotions shared and understanding of what the other will find funny- also seen with siblings - focus on different topics - especially naughty behaviours- frequency varies between sibling pairs
Connectedness
- degree to which two individuals sustain a connected thread of communications when they interact- varies widely with sibling relationships- also varies with sibling realtionships
Slomkowski & Dunn (1992) - connectedness
- 18% to 100% of conversational turns connected to previous turn by siblings
Shared fantasy
- Unlike mothers, siblings act as full partners in pretend play- in warm, close, sibling relationshipsm 18m olds cna engage in pretend games- not confined to very young siblings - change in form but still seen at age 10-13 (Dunn, Slomkowski and Beardsall, 1994)- Links to theory of mind developement.
Buhrmester and Furman (1990) - cross study of sibling relationships
- aged 8, 11, 14 and 18- sibships more egalitarian with age- adolescents less companionship, intimacy and affection with sibs- conflict with older sibs decreases
Stability of sibling relationships - Dunn (1993)
- longitudinal study- secondborn becomes more active in the relationship- correlations from preschool to middle childhood are positive but not strong- decline in companionship from midlle childhood to adolescence- growing imporatnce of wider social context with age
Consequences of sibling relationships
- quality of sibling relationships is associated with adjustment over time.- siblings coflict is linked to anti social bahaviour (criss and shaw, 2005)- differential parenting is linked to adjustment (Feinberg and Heatherington, 2001)- Children with older siblings perform better on theory of mind tests (Ruffman et al, 1998)- sociocognitive development fcilitated bu 'scaffolding'
Comparisons to only children
- some early evidence that only children show less prosocial behaviour.
Wang et al (2000)
- 200 onlies, 400 with sibs- aged 3-6- no differences in personality characteristics except for 'somatic complaints' - only children not neccessarily at a disadvantage