ABSTRACT
Over the last five decades attachment theory has generated a large body of research suggesting that the quality of the attachment relationship between a child and a parent is vitally important in children’s long-term development. Early insecurity of attachment is believed by researchers and practitioners to cast a long and dark shadow over subsequent development. Individual studies have converged in showing that insecure attachment with the primary caregiver in infancy is significantly associated with poor developmental outcomes in the preadolescent years. Poor social competence and peer relationships, increased aggression and hostility and lower ego resilience have all been linked to early attachment insecurity (Lyons-Ruth et al. 1987; Shaw & Vondra 1995).
