INFANT PRONENESS-TO-DISTRESS TEMPERAMENT, MATERNAL PERSONALITY, AND MOTHER-INFANT ATTACHMENT - ASSOCIATIONS AND GOODNESS OF FIT

66 mother‐infant pairs were examined when the infants were 9 and 13 months. The purpose of this report was to examine relations between infant proneness‐to‐distress temperament, maternal personality characteristics, and mother‐infant attachment. There were no main‐effect relations between infant proneness‐to‐distress temperament as assessed at 9 months and infant attachment classification at 13 months. This was true whether security of attachment (A and C vs. B) or proposed temperament (A1‐B2 vs. B3‐C2) groupings of attachment classifications were examined. Infant proneness‐to‐distress temperament, however, was associated with maternal behavior and personality. Furthermore, security of attachment could be predicted by an interaction between maternal personality and infant proneness‐to‐distress. The importance of considering goodness‐of‐fit relations in predicting attachment security is discussed. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved