Relationships among Attachment Behaviors during Reunion at 13 and 32 Months of Age

Abstract

Attachment behaviors during the reunion episode of the ‘Strange Situation’ were investigated for 18 mother-infant dyads when the infants were 13 mo. old and then 19 mo. later for a repetition of the procedure when the infants were 32 mo. old. Correlational analyses were performed to assess relationships among the behaviors both within and across ages. Findings indicate that proximal behaviors are interrelated at 13 mo. whereas distal behaviors are interrelated at 32 mo. Cross-age correlations indicated that distress and looking at objects at 13 mo. were negatively associated with distal behaviors at 32 mo. However, exploratory behavior at 13 mo. was positively correlated with distal behaviors at 32 mo. These results suggest that amount of infant's exploratory behavior in a somewhat stressful situation may provide information about the nature of the attachment relationship at a later age.