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According to attachment theory, children learn to trust in their parent’s availability and support if they repeatedly experience that their parents respond sensitively to their needs during distress (Bowlby, 1969). Attachment is thus developed and shaped by day-to-day interactions, while at the same time, each interaction is a momentary expression of the attachment relation. How behaviors of parent and child follow upon each other, has been understudied for years. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the micro-coded interactions of 55 mother-child dyads dyads (27 girls, 28 boys, mean age: 10.3) during a standardized stress-inducing situation. Results reveal that all mother-child dyads show a loop between positive mother and child behaviors. This patterns is complemented with a loop of negative mother and child behaviors in low-trust and more avoidantly attached children: these children tend to handle negative mother behavior less well as they show more negative behavior and less positive behavior in response to negative maternal behavior. More anxiously attached children, though like avoidant children showing less positive behavior, react positive on collaborative interactions. The micro-coded interactions thus reveal important insights that inform practitioners and advance attachment theory.
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