Attachment Predicts College Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Skills for Working with Infants, Toddlers, and Families

Research Findings: Adults’ attitudes about attachment relationships are central to how they perceive and respond to children. However, little is known about how attachment styles are related to teachers’ attitudes toward and interactions with infants and toddlers. From a survey of 207 students taking early childhood (EC) courses at 4 U.S. universities, we report relations among students’ attachment styles and their (a) career goals, (b) attitudes about caring for and educating infants and young children, digitalcommons.unl.edu Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 2 and (c) interaction skills for responding in developmentally supportive ways. Overall, attachment security was positively associated with career goals focused on working with younger children, knowledge about infant/toddler development, attitudes that acknowledge the importance of adult support in children’s development, and developmentally supportive interaction skills. Students who scored high on attachment fearfulness minimized the importance of adults in children’s lives, minimized the importance of the early years for later learning, and endorsed strict and controlling forms of child guidance. Practice or Policy: A conceptual mediation model linking a path from attachment to caregiving skill through knowledge and attitudes is articulated. We propose a person-centered pedagogy for infant/toddler professional preparation that provides opportunities for reflection on one’s own attachment and its effects on work with young children. Researchers are truly in the infancy of understanding the motivations of individuals who enter the early care and education workforce, the characteristics of those best suited to being teachers in early care and education settings, or how to optimize training and educational experiences to best prepare individuals for this important role. Early childhood (EC) and elementary teachers’ implicit attitudes are associated with pedagogy and classroom practices (e.g., Cassidy & Lawrence, 2000; Charlesworth et al., 1993; Pajares, 1992). Here we understand teacher attitudes to include beliefs and values that “house the evaluative, comparative, and judgmental functions of beliefs and replace predisposition with an imperative to action” (Pajares, 1992, p. 314). Brownlee and colleagues have described the belief systems of toddler teachers1 and their association with Squires’s (2004) key affective, cognitive, and executive functions of teaching (Berthelsen & Brownlee, 2005, 2007; Brownlee & Berthelsen, 2006, 2009; Brownlee, Berthelsen, & Boulton-Lewis, 2004; McMullen & Dixon, 2006). Other research has connected infant teachers’ mind-mindedness, or the attribution of mental states and processes to children’s behavior, to observed teaching practices, specifically to increased sensitivity and stimulation levels (Degotardi 1. We choose to use the term teacher here for infant and toddler professionals working in the classroom, and we use the term as inclusive of the terms educator, caregiver, and child care provider. Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 3 & Davis, 2008; Degotardi & Sweller, 2012; Susman-Stillman, Pleuss, & Englund, 2013). These limited associations between attitudes and teacher practices have not been fully examined for teachers of infants and toddlers, particularly for future teachers. Furthermore, given that the teacher role is fundamentally relationship based in EC (Margetts, 2005), teachers’ own attachment styles may influence their attitudes and classroom practices as well as the quality of their relationships with children. Because teacher–child relationships are a crucial determinant of quality in infant and toddler care (Raikes & Edwards, 2009), teachers’ attachment styles and attitudes may have particular relevance for pedagogy and practice. Following this line of thinking, some researchers have used attachment theory as a framework to investigate teacher characteristics that promote the social and emotional well-being of the children in their care (e.g., Ahnert, Pinquart, & Lamb, 2006; Belsky & Rovine, 1988). This work has focused on teacher sensitivity and child attachment rather than on teachers’ attachment styles. Berlin (2012) reviewed research on the role of sensitive, supportive care in promoting child well-being and recommended that hiring interviews for infant/toddler teachers include questions about applicants’ attachmentrelated values and states of mind and that attachment-based training be instituted to help teachers understand how their own attachment security influences their work with children. However, to date there is no empirical evidence linking current or future teachers’ attachment security to their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors related to educating and caring for infants and toddlers. We address this gap by investigating relations among university students’ attachment styles (for both EC majors and those in classes with childhood development content); their expectations regarding future professional roles; and their knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to working with infants and toddlers. Attachment, attitudes, and behaviors To explore how EC teachers’ attachment styles may relate to their attitudes and behaviors regarding infants and toddlers, we drew on literature describing adult attachment styles. Adult attachment has been conceptualized as a caregiving behavioral system regulated by Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 4 internal working models of self and others that organize thoughts and feelings about relationships (Ainsworth, 1979; Bowlby, 1969; George & Solomon, 1999; Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985; Sroufe & Waters, 1977). Four primary styles have been identified: (a) secure or autonomous, (b) insecure-entangled or preoccupied, (c) insecure-avoidant or dismissing, and (d) disoriented-disorganized or fearful. These internal working models guide attitudes and beliefs about relationships, including parents’ appraisals of and responses to children’s behavior (e.g., Bretherton, 1990; Crowell & Feldman, 1991; Steele, Steele, & Fonagy, 1996). Attachment security benefits parents in many ways. Secure mothers are able to appraise a child’s behavior amid relevant contextual cues; regulate their own emotional responses to the child’s behavior; and respond in a way that meets the child’s needs with sensitivity, warmth, and affection (Crowell & Feldman, 1991; De Wolff & van Ijzendoorn, 1997; DeOliveira, Moran, & Pederson, 2005) without being overly intrusive, negative, detached, rejecting, or controlling (Adam, Gunnar, & Tanaka, 2004; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bretherton, 1990; Main & Goldwyn, 1984; Mills-Koonce et al., 2011; Roskam, Meunier, & Stievenart, 2011; Whipple, Bernier, & Mageau, 2011). Secure parents can be present in the moment with children and respond to them relatively unencumbered by ghosts from past attachment relationships (Fraiberg, 1980). In turn, their children tend to be more secure, socially competent, and autonomous compared to children with insecure parents (e.g., Grossman, Fremmer-Bombik, Rudolph, & Grossman, 1988; Pearson, Cohn, Cowan, & Pape Cowan, 1994; Stevenson-Hinde & Shouldice, 1995; van Ijzendoorn, 1995). In contrast, insecure individuals adopt strategies for coping with unmet security needs (Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2002). Dismissing individuals deactivate the attachment system by minimizing the importance of attachment needs for themselves and others and are less nurturing and more controlling than secure parents (George & Solomon, 1999). Preoccupied individuals hyperactivate the attachment system, resulting in overprotective and intrusive behaviors (George & Solomon, 1999). As parents, they can be angry and intrusive (Adam et al., 2004). Fearful individuals are more prone to feeling fear and anxiety during interactions with their infants and to withdrawing emotionally from children as a coping strategy. Moreover, fearful adults can Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 5 exhibit confusing and contradictory caregiving behaviors, such as approaching the infant but then turning away from the infant’s cues for closeness, or intrusive behaviors that reflect misalignments in affective communication (Lyons-Ruth & Spielman, 2004). Parents with insecure attachment styles report more parenting stress, more negative parental attitudes, and lower parenting self-efficacy (Kohlhoff & Barnett, 2013; Trillingsgaard, Elklit, Shevlin, & Maimburg, 2011). Although adult attachment consistently predicts parenting behaviors, especially during the infant and toddler period, much less is known about how attachment styles of EC professionals may influence their thoughts and feelings toward, and interactions with, young children. However, research with young adults is instructive for considering how attachment affects professionals. For example, women with insecure attachment styles less accurately identify infant emotions, make more negative attributions about a distressed infant, report more irritation in response to infant crying, and are less likely to respond with empathy than secure women (Leerkes & Siepak, 2006; Riem, Bakermans-Kranenburg, van Ijzendoorn, Out, & Rombouts, 2012). Insecure college students hold more negative models of parenting and parent–child relationships, expect to be easily aggravated by children, endorse stricter disciplinary practices, and are less confident in their ability to relate to children (Rholes, Simpson, Blakely, Lanigan, & Allen, 1997). Attachment and preparation of EC professionals The attachment-related patterns and associations described in the previous section may be similar for EC teachers and for students preparing to enter that field. Although parents are children’s primary attachment figures, children spend a substantial amount of time with their EC teachers, who can also contribute to their security needs (Kuhl, 2011; Meltzoff, Kuhl, Movellan, & Sejnowski, 2009; Pianta, 1992; Siegel, 1999; Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins, 2005). Child care is a context that elicits attachment-related challenges such as transitions from one setting, teacher, or major activity to another (McMullen & Dixon, 2006) as well as the need to share teachers’ attentions with other children. For instance, one study found that 91% of children who spent more than 12 months with a high-ability Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 6 teacher were securely attached compared to only 50% of those who had been with their teachers 5 to 8 months (Raikes, 1993). Group size was also linked with attachment in a study of Israeli children: 72% of children in classrooms with a 1:3 or better adult:child ratio were securely attached compared to only 57% of children in classrooms with worse ratios (Berlin, 2012). It follows that it is worthwhile to apply attachment theory to research on the childrearing-related feelings and ideas of current and future EC professionals. Teachers’ attachment styles may influence their attitudes and behaviors toward young children in ways similar to those of parents (Edwards & Raikes, 2002; Honig, 2002). In fact, the attachment theory framework has already led to useful insights beyond the parent–child relationship. First, there is evidence that professionals’ attachment plays a role in other childand family-related practices: In home visiting, providers’ attachment security predicts better program implementation, higher home visitor self-efficacy, and greater family engagement and trust (Burrell et al., 2009; McFarlane et al., 2010). Second, there is evidence that attachment style is associated with EC career intentions. Horppu and Ikonen-Varila (2004) found that secure EC education students were more likely than dismissing students to report that working with younger (as opposed to older) children was their first career choice. Third, there is evidence that children benefit when their teachers have secure working models of relationships. Stability of care and teacher sensitivity are associated with children’s secure attachment relationships with nonparental caregivers (Ahnert et al., 2006; De Schipper, Tavecchio, & van Ijzendoorn, 2008; Elicker, Fortner-Wood, & Noppe, 1999; Raikes, 1993). Fourth, children who have secure relationships with their teachers demonstrate greater social competence, including prosocial behavior, and less hostile aggression and withdrawal (Howes, Matheson, & Hamilton, 1994; Howes, Rodning, Galluzzo, & Myers, 1988). For these reasons, knowledge about teachers’ attachment styles in relation to their attitudes about and interactions with young children could inform preparation programs for infant/ toddler professionals and in-service training. Yet there is only sparse knowledge about the role of undergraduate students’ own attachment styles in forming their career expectations, their ideas about the nature of children, and their thoughts about best practices in child care. Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 7 America’s universities train many EC professionals (Honig & Hirallal, 1998; Hyson, Horm, & Winton, 2012). In higher education settings, students’ attachment styles likely influence their (a) decisions to enter the early care and education field, as they do for elementary and secondary teachers (Riley, 2009; Wright & Sherman, 1963); (b) attitudes and approaches toward coursework and practicum experiences that include relationships with children and families; and (c) ability to acquire knowledge and skills about, and change attitudes toward, children and families (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Normán, 2010). Yet there is limited research on these associations and no comprehensive models for addressing the effects of these psychosocial factors on students’ learning and career paths related to early care and education. Horm, Hyson, and Winton (2013) proposed a model of education and career development for EC professionals that focuses primarily on essential content in students’ program of study rather than on the underlying psychosocial characteristics that may influence choice of major and subsequent learning. However, they pointed out the need for further research specifically on the education of infant/toddler teachers in order to create a model for effective education and training of these future professionals, and the need to consider learner characteristics in such models. The current study and introduction to the research questions A group of child development scholars across multiple universities have collaborated to address the gap in research that undermines the development of a comprehensive model of effective education for future infant/toddler teachers.2 The group first used a rigorous vetting process to articulate a set of competencies based on empirical evidence and professional standards (i.e., Zero-to-Three Core competencies; competencies of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood). Group members each nominated up to five competencies with justification and evidence statements, and content analysis was conducted to integrate and align the competencies. Nine competency dimensions, which each included specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills that EC teachers need to work effectively with infants, 2. This group is called the Collaborative for Understanding the Pedagogy of Infant/Toddler Development. Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 8 toddlers, and their families, were articulated and then reviewed and critiqued by the group members. Next we began to develop measures to assess these competencies and the factors that may influence them. As a starting point, the group concentrated on three competency dimensions that are at the center of the current study: understanding and supporting relationships, understanding and supporting learning, and guidance of infant/toddler behavior. There is substantial evidence and professional guidelines underpinning these competences. For example, evidence for the importance of understanding and supporting relationships comes from attachment research described previously (Kuhl, 2011; Meltzoff et al., 2009; Pianta, 1992; Siegel, 1999; Sroufe et al., 2005). Furthermore, child development knowledge based on developmental science is critical to preparing teachers to support children’s learning and development (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009; Horm et al., 2013; Pianta, Hitz, & West, 2010). Evidence that these competencies are necessary for developmentally supportive practices with young children is based on associations between adults’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors within each dimension and children’s positive development (e.g., Hamre, Hatfield, Pianta, & Jamil, 2014). Though the robust body of research on attachment provides the grounding for informed hypotheses regarding its effects on EC professionals, we understand little about whether attachment affects EC teachers’, or preservice teachers’, attitudes or practices. We hypothesize, however, that EC education students’ attachment impacts their tendencies to endorse supportive caregiving practices that demonstrate warmth and sensitivity, avoid overor undercontrolling the child’s behavior, and identify appropriate developmental expectations for children. Furthermore, attachment insecurity may limit students’ abilities to gain knowledge and skills for working with young children, particularly if they are unaware of its effects on their learning and behavior. Understanding how adult attachment influences EC-related attitudes and skills may help university instructors better understand their students and help students better understand their own attitudes and responses toward children. The current study examines associations between adult attachment styles and the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that college students in child development courses have related to the development, care, and education of infants and toddlers. Specifically, we ask the following questions: Vallotton et al . in Early Educat ion and Development 27 (2016) 9 (1) How is attachment style associated with the career goals of students in child development courses? (2) How is attachment style associated with child development students’ knowledge and attitudes about infants, toddlers, and young children? (3) Do attitudes mediate effects of attachment and knowledge on child development students’ skills for working with infants and toddlers in developmentally supportive ways?