BEHAVIOURAL CORRELATES OF CHILD-MOTHER ATTACHMENT IN PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

The present study aims to describe relationship between the child-mother attachment and behaviour and body scheme of preschool and primary school children. The study includes 80 pre-schoolers aged 4-6 years and 70 first-graders aged 6-7 years. Child-mother attachment is assessed using N. Kaplan's approach. Behavioural manifestations are assessed on the basis of Stott Delinquency Observation Form (SDOF). Body scheme is assessed registering the degree of deviations in body, kinaesthetic and dynamic praxis. The study shows that the child-mother attachment style does not depend on the child's gender. The educators and teachers evaluate the behaviour of the boys that of the girls as less satisfactory regardless of attachment style. The estimates of the behavioural deviations of preschool and primary school children generally are independent of the child-mother attachment style. The revealed independence testifies to the existence of the psychological mechanisms of the compensation of insecure attachment styles. To a significant extent, the estimates of the behavioural deviations of pre-schoolers and primary school children are associated with abnormality in one or more components of body scheme. The degree of deviations in one or more components of body scheme largely relates to the child-mother attachment style. The main conclusion consists in that the child-mother attachment style does not directly affect the child's behaviour in the interaction with other significant adults. The influence of attachment style is mediated by body scheme. Body scheme is not the only mediating factor. Social perceptions also mediate the influence of attachment on behaviour. (c) 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK