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Ample research demonstrates that parents’ experience-based mental representations of attachment—cognitive models of close relationships—relate to their children’s social-emotional development. However, no research to date has examined how parents’ attachment representations relate to another crucial domain of children’s development: brain development. The present study is the first to integrate the separate literatures on attachment and developmental social cognitive neuroscience to examine the link between mothers’ attachment representations and 3- to 8-year-old children’s brain structure. We hypothesized that mothers’ attachment representations would relate to individual differences in children’s brain structures involved in stress regulation—specifically, amygdala and hippocampal volumes—in part via mothers’ responses to children’s distress. We assessed 52 mothers’ attachment representations (secure base script knowledge on the Attachment Script Assessment and self-reported attachment avoidance and anxiety on the Experiences in Close Relationships scale) and children’s brain structure. Mothers’ secure base script knowledge was significantly related to children’s smaller left amygdala volume but was unrelated to hippocampal volume; we found no indirect links via maternal responses to children’s distress. Exploratory analyses showed associations between mothers’ attachment representations and white matter and thalamus volumes. Together, these preliminary results suggest that mothers’ attachment representations may be linked to the development of children’s neural circuitry related to stress regulation.
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This content will become publicly available on January 17, 2026
Attachment in family relationships: an overview and appreciative critique of theory and research
Attachment theory is a dominant theoretical framework guiding research on close relationships across the lifespan. Research on the role of attachment in family relationships, in particular, has been highly generative, resulting in a large empirical base spanning over five decades. In this chapter, we review evidence from the attachment literature addressing key questions in family relationships research including the developmental origins, legacy, and stability of children’s early relationships with parents. Evidence from meta-analytic and large-sample research reviewed in this chapter generally provides support for the key tenets of attachment theory as they pertain to early parent-child attachment relationships. However, throughout the chapter, we note important gaps in the current empirical base and offer suggestions for future research. In addition, we discuss how greater connection between different perspectives and approaches to studying close relationships can advance understanding of the role of attachment in family, as well as romantic, relationships.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2017920
- PAR ID:
- 10627873
- Editor(s):
- Overall, Nickola C; Simpson, Jeffry A; Lavner, Justin A
- Publisher / Repository:
- Edward Elgar Publishing
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9781035309252
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 25 to 40
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Attachment Intergenerational Transmission Legacy of Early Experiences Stability Sensitivity Family Relationships
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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