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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. 

Meta-analytic evidence indicates that the quality of the attachment relationship that infants establish with their primary caregiver has enduring significance for socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. However, the mechanisms by which early attachment experiences contribute to subsequent development remain underspecified. According to attachment theory, early attachment experiences become embodied in the form of cognitive-affective representations, referred to as internal working models (IWMs), that guide future behavior. Little is known, however, about the cognitive architecture of IWMs in infancy. In this article, we discuss significant advances made in the field of infant cognitive development and propose that leveraging insights from this research has the potential to fundamentally shape our understanding of the cognitive architecture of attachment representations in infancy. We also propose that the integration of attachment research into cognitive research can shed light on the role of early experiences, individual differences, and stability and change in infant cognition, as well as open new routes of investigation in cognitive studies, which will further our understanding of human knowledge. We provide recommendations for future research throughout the article and conclude by using our collaborative research as an example.