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Attachment Relationships Across Siblings And Their Common Mother: Patterns And Predictors, Kathleen Anne O'Connor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Traditional attachment theory suggests that because maternal state of mind regarding attachment is generally stable by adulthood, mothers should interact similarly with their children and, consequently, should share a similar quality of attachment with each. Early empirical work, however, suggests that the quality of siblings’ relationships is frequently different. Using varied theoretical and methodological approaches, this dissertation expanded upon the existing literature to further explore the nature and underpinnings of variability in the quality of mother-infant attachment across siblings.

Study 1 comprehensively described patterns of attachment within the family, investigating the extent to which the quality of siblings’ relationships with …