Subscribe
The latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries.
My Account
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • About
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Developmental Psychology

Secure attachment to both parents − not just mothers − boosts children’s psychological development

by Or Dagan and Carlo Schuengel
November 9, 2023
in Developmental Psychology, Mental Health, Parenting
(Photo by Elina Fairytale via Pexels)

(Photo by Elina Fairytale via Pexels)

Share on TwitterShare on Facebook

Imagine a sudden rustle in the tall grass. A ripple of alarm passes through the group of early humans who live together amid ancient, rugged terrain. In the center of the encampment, a 3-year-old child – let’s call her Raina – stumbles and falls, her eyes wide with fear.

Without hesitation, her mother sweeps her up into her protective arms, while her grandmother quickly gathers herbs and leaves to create a pungent smokescreen to deter lurking predators. Simultaneously, Raina’s father and uncles move swiftly to the outskirts of the camp, their vigilant eyes scanning for signs of danger.

In this heart-pounding moment, Raina was enveloped in a web of care. Multiple caregivers worked seamlessly together, their collective efforts serving as a shield against the unknown threat that lurked beyond the safety of their campfire’s glow. It took a village to ensure Raina’s safety.

For at least 200,000 years, children grew up in a similar setting to Raina’s: a social environment with multiple caregivers. But 20th-century child psychologists placed almost exclusive importance on the mother-child bond. Research on children’s attachment relationships – the emotional ties they develop with their caregivers – and how they influence child development has had a mother-centric focus. Academic psychology’s emphasis on the child-mother relationship can be at least partly attributed to social norms about the appropriate roles of mothers and fathers. Whereas fathers have been characterized as the breadwinners, mothers have been thought of as more involved in the daily care of children.

We are clinical-developmental psychology and child and family researchers interested in studying how the quality of child-caregiver relationships affects children’s development. With 29 other researchers, we started a research consortium to study children’s attachment relationships. Together, we ask: How does having attachment relationships to both mothers and fathers affect children’s socioemotional and cognitive outcomes?

Mother-centric attachment research

Children develop attachment relationships with people whose presence around them is stable over time. For most children, these people are their parents.

Social scientists broadly classify attachment relationships as secure or insecure. A secure relationship with a specific caregiver reflects a child’s expectation that when they’re alarmed – as when emotionally or physically hurt – this caregiver will be available and emotionally supportive. In contrast, children who are uncertain about the availability of their caregivers in times of need are likely to form an insecure attachment relationship.

In the U.S. and Europe, where most attachment research has been conducted to date, the primary caregiver was frequently assumed to be the mother. Accordingly, researchers have almost exclusively focused on mothers as attachment figures. Mothers were also more accessible for researchers, and they more readily consented to participate in studies than fathers and nonparental caregivers such as grandparents and professional caretakers.

Furthermore, many researchers have assumed that there is a hierarchy within parental caregiving, wherein attachment with mothers is more important for understanding children’s development than attachment with caregivers considered “secondary,” such as fathers.

Already by the late 1980s, some scholars recognized the need to assess the joint impact of children’s attachment relationships with multiple caregivers on their developmental trajectories. But little research ensued. Recently, we revived such calls and proposed models that researchers can use to systematically assess the joint effects of children’s attachment to both mothers and fathers on an array of developmental outcomes.

Then, we recruited more than two dozen social scientists from eight countries who are interested in these questions around attachment relationships. Together, we formed the Collaboration on Attachment to Multiple Parents Synthesis consortium.

The more secure attachments the better

The first step our group took was compiling data collected by attachment researchers across the globe over the past 40 years. We identified previous research on the attachment relationships of more than 1,000 children with both their parents.

Instead of categorizing children as securely versus insecurely attached to one parent, we placed them into one of four groups:

  • Children with secure attachment relationships to both mother and father.
  • Children with secure attachment to mother and insecure attachment to father.
  • Children with insecure attachment to mother and secure attachment to father.
  • Children with insecure attachments to both parents.

In two separate studies, we assessed whether the children’s attachment to mother and father predicted mental health and language competence. In these studies, children’s attachment relationships were assessed by observing how they behaved during brief separations from each parent – for instance, in what psychologists call the strange situation procedure.

We found that children who simultaneously had secure attachment relationships with both mothers and fathers were likely to experience fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression and to exhibit better language skills than kids with one or no secure attachment relationships within their intact, two-parent families.

How might a child’s network of attachment relationships have these effects? While we couldn’t assess it in our study, there are various plausible mechanisms at play. For instance, think about a child with two secure attachment relationships to both mother and father who has trust in both parents that they will be there in challenging situations.

All children encounter sadness, anger and despair. But because a child with dual secure attachments can readily turn to their parents for help and support, negative emotions may be resolved quickly and not turn into defiance or depression. Because they have less of a need to monitor their parents’ whereabouts, this child may also be more adventurous and exploratory, giving them experiences to share and talk about. They might be exposed to a wider range and amount of verbal expression – helping expand their language skills.

Mothers aren’t the whole story

It is also important to note what we did not find: There was no hierarchy of importance in terms of which parent a child developed a secure attachment with. Children with secure attachment only to mothers (but not to fathers) and children with secure attachment only to fathers (but not to mothers) were not statistically different in their mental health and language competence outcomes.

These findings support an important takeaway: Mothers and fathers are equally important in raising children and setting them up for optimal developmental trajectories. In other words, it is the number of secure attachment relationships a child develops within the family network – not the specific gender of the adult with whom a secure relationship is developed – that matters.

Children have also been shown to thrive when developing secure attachment relationships in nontraditional families, such as those with same-sex parents. We thus expect that future studies will replicate our findings in nontraditional two-parent families.

Future research should also investigate other family networks that include nonparental caregivers, such as grandparents, who often take an active role in rearing children. In collectively oriented cultures, family households often comprise a wider network of attachment figures than the traditional two-parent households often found in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Studies in these cultures are likely to find that attachment networks may be more pertinent than research on single relationships when it comes to understanding children’s mental health and academic skills.

As the African proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child. We are all descendants of children like Raina. Our findings highlight the critical need to adjust policy and early intervention efforts to support the parent couple and potentially other configurations of stable caregivers – not just mothers.The Conversation

 

 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

TweetSendScanShareSendPin3ShareShareShareShareShare

RELATED

Non-right-handedness is more common across multiple mental health conditions
Mental Health

Non-right-handedness is more common across multiple mental health conditions

May 23, 2025

Individuals with conditions like autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD are more likely to exhibit non-right-handedness, according to a meta-analysis of over 200,000 participants.

Read moreDetails
ADHD drug shows promise in treating some symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Depression

Withdrawal symptoms are common after stopping antidepressants

May 23, 2025

Researchers analyzed data from 35 studies and found that over 40% of antidepressant users experienced withdrawal symptoms, including dizziness, irritability, and mood disturbances. The findings suggest the need for better tapering strategies and patient education.

Read moreDetails
Anxious attachment linked to depression spillover in romantic relationships, study finds
Attachment Styles

Anxious attachment linked to depression spillover in romantic relationships, study finds

May 23, 2025

Women with anxious attachment styles are more likely to experience increases in depressive symptoms if their partners show signs of depression, according to a four-year study of German couples.

Read moreDetails
Scientists find 16 new Alzheimer’s-linked genes using multi-ancestry genome data
Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists find 16 new Alzheimer’s-linked genes using multi-ancestry genome data

May 23, 2025

A groundbreaking genome-wide analysis has revealed new genetic regions associated with Alzheimer’s disease—many missed in past studies focused on European populations. The findings point to underexplored biological pathways and highlight the value of studying diverse ancestry groups.

Read moreDetails
“Tiger mom” parenting boosts teens’ cognitive skills but undermines emotional development, study suggests
Parenting

“Tiger mom” parenting boosts teens’ cognitive skills but undermines emotional development, study suggests

May 22, 2025

A new study using nationwide data from China finds that when mothers dominate educational decisions, children tend to perform better academically—but show weaker non-cognitive skills, such as emotional regulation and social traits.

Read moreDetails
Pills spilling out of a bottle on a table
ADHD

Common blood pressure drug shows promise for treating ADHD symptoms

May 22, 2025

Amlodipine, typically used for hypertension, may have brain-based effects that make it a candidate for ADHD treatment, according to new research.

Read moreDetails
Cognitive training may reduce negative self-perceptions in people with depression and PTSD
Depression

Cognitive training may reduce negative self-perceptions in people with depression and PTSD

May 21, 2025

Underestimating one’s own cognitive abilities is common in depression and PTSD. A new study finds that cognitive training—especially through engaging games—may help people recalibrate their self-perceptions and feel better.

Read moreDetails
Enjoying nature, not just visiting it, linked to greater happiness and life satisfaction, study finds
Climate

Enjoying nature, not just visiting it, linked to greater happiness and life satisfaction, study finds

May 21, 2025

A new study finds that simply enjoying being in nature is more closely tied to happiness and life satisfaction than how often people go outside, challenging the assumption that more time in nature always leads to better well-being.

Read moreDetails

SUBSCRIBE

Go Ad-Free! Click here to subscribe to PsyPost and support independent science journalism!

STAY CONNECTED

LATEST

Neuroscientists challenge “dopamine detox” trend with evidence from avoidance learning

Non-right-handedness is more common across multiple mental health conditions

Withdrawal symptoms are common after stopping antidepressants

Anxious attachment linked to depression spillover in romantic relationships, study finds

Scientists find 16 new Alzheimer’s-linked genes using multi-ancestry genome data

Groundbreaking AI model uncovers hidden patterns of political bias in online news

Gut bacteria can influence how brain proteins are modified by carbohydrates

“Tiger mom” parenting boosts teens’ cognitive skills but undermines emotional development, study suggests

         
       
  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms and Conditions
[Do not sell my information]

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Cognitive Science Research
  • Mental Health Research
  • Social Psychology Research
  • Drug Research
  • Relationship Research
  • About PsyPost
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy