Measuring attachment security via the Security Scale: Latent structure,invariance across mothers and fathers and convergent validity

The Security Scale (SS) is a widely used questionnaire measuring attachment towards mother and father in school-aged children. Whilst existing evidence supports concurrent and discriminant validity of the SS, its factorial structure remains largely underexplored. The current study examined the factorial structure of the SS, explored its measurement invariance across mother and father, and evaluated its convergent validity with the Coping Strategies Questionnaire in a sample of 149 Italian children aged 8–10 years. In statistical analyses, we accounted for the ordinal nature of the data and adopted an ad hoc bootstrap procedure for the estimation of measurement invariance. Results supported the factorial validity of the SS and the structural invariance of its underlying construct across parents. Evidence for convergent validity was also found. Overall, the Italian version of the SS is a promising tool to assess attachment in school-aged children.     

Behavioural Problems in Children with Headache and Maternal Stress: Is Children's Attachment Security a Protective Factor?

Headache is a potentially disabling condition involving enduring pain that negatively influences the quality of family life. Behavioural problems are more common in children with headache and are potentially associated with higher levels of parental stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which children's behavioural problems were associated with maternal stress and how the child's perception of security in the maternal attachment relationship moderates this association. Seventy‐one school‐aged children with headache (headache group (HG), age M = 9.8 years old, SD = 1.3) and 71 children from a low‐risk normative population (control group (CG), age M = 9.2 years old, SD = 1) and their mothers were involved in the study. Mothers' reports of children's behavioural problems were associated with higher maternal stress in the caring task both in the HG and in the CG. Results also showed that the HG was more at risk for behavioural problems, whereas no difference between groups was detected for parenting stress and for attachment insecurity. In children with headache, perception of attachment security decreased the strength of the association between maternal stress and externalizing behavioural problems. Secure attachment may provide children with headache and their parents with support in managing the negative emotions that arise in the context of significant health issues. Implications for practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale across developmental stage,gender, and country

Adolescents differ in their degree of Environmental Sensitivity, that is, the ability to perceive and process information about their environment. The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale (HSC), a self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity, in two Belgian and UK samples with a total of 3056 adolescents. First, the factor structure, internal consistency, dimensionality, and construct validity of the HSC scale were examined. Second, measurement invariance of the HSC scale across developmental stage, gender, and country was tested. Results supported a bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and three group factors: Ease of Excitation (EOE), Low Sensory Threshold (LST), and Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES). Cronbach’s alpha and McDonalds’s (hierarchical) omega indicated that the HSC scale is a reliable measure of Environmental Sensitivity, except for AES. Furthermore, AES was associated with different personality traits than EOE and LST. Second, the HSC scale was partially measurement invariant across developmental stage, gender, and country. The results provide important insights in the psychometrics of a first measurement of Environmental Sensitivity in early to late adolescents. Implications for further research are discussed.

     

Experiences in Close Relationships Revised Child version (ECR-RC): Psychometric evidence in support of a Security factor

Attachment refers to the innate tendency to form strong and close interpersonal bonds, from infancy through adulthood. Many different ways to assess attachment have been developed, one of them being the use of self-report questionnaires. The Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised is one of the most commonly used instruments to assess adult and late adolescent attachment. Recently, a new and brief child version of this instrument has been published, the 12-item ECR-RC short form. The purpose of the current study was threefold: (1) to test the factorial structure of this form in a sample of Italian adolescents, (2) to test the loadings overlap between the mother and the father forms, and (3) to investigate factors reliability. Using a sample of 961 adolescents (M_age = 14.25, SD_age = 1.57), a series of Confirmatory Factor Analyses were performed. The Avoidance – Anxiety structure was not supported, whereas a factor structure including Anxiety, Avoidance, and Security, had a very good fit. Item loadings on these factors were largely equal across mother and father, and internal reliability was high. The results of this study show that the ECR-RC short form is a quick and reliable way to assess attachment in early adolescents. This study also initiates the proposal of an ECR-RC Security factor, to be further validated in future studies.