Development and preliminary validation of the caregiving behavior system: Association with child attachment classification in the preschool Strange Situation

The Marvin and Britner system for classifying caregiver behavior patterns in the preschool Strange Situation is presented to complement the Cassidy and Marvin (1992) preschool child-parent attachment classification system. Participants were 110 mothers and their preschool children (aged 2 to 4 years) with medical risks (epilepsy or mild cerebral palsy) or no diagnosis (i.e., healthy). As coded by reliable, independent raters, there was a highly significant level of concordance between the 5-category caregiver and child classifications in the preschool Strange Situation across the medical risk levels. In comparison to other caregivers, mothers classified as secure in their caregiving behavior pattern were rated as more sensitive; they also showed greater delight and were more supportive of their children's exploration. Combinations of the ten, 9-point caregiver rating scales were useful in discriminating among the insecure caregiver patterns.