Preschool Children's Representation of Attachment : Associations with Teacher-Child Relationship and Social Competence

유아의 애착 표상과 교사-유아관계 및 사회적 능력간의 관계

In this study, children's representation of attachment was assessed by the Attachment Story Completion Task(Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990) administered to 101 5-to 6-year-old children(56boys, 45girls). Teacher-child relationship and social competence were evaluated by a questionnaire administered to preschool teachers. Based on the children's representation of attachment in their narrative responses to the story stems, 56.4% of the children were classified as having secure, 22.8% as insecure-avoidant, and 20.8% as insecure-disorganized attachments. Children with secure representation of attachment exhibited more social competence and fewer behavioral problems in the child-care setting than children with insecure representation of attachment. This study showed that the child's internal model of attachment formed from experience with caregiver is capable of transmitting social relationships outside the home.