ArticleJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2026
Distinct cascades for secure and insecure infants from early anger dysregulation to mothers' and fathers' power-assertive control at toddler age to externalizing outcomes at preschool age: a replication.
Article in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Long-term legacy of parents' secure base script knowledge: Cascading implications for family relationships and children's positive development.Developmental psychology · 2026Article
- Parent-child alienation, peer alienation, and sleep disturbance in Chinese college students: a longitudinal study of bidirectional relationships and gender differences.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Equifinality and multifinality in developmental paths to a hostile mindset: A longitudinal study of mother-child and father-child dyads from toddler to early school age.Development and psychopathology · 2026Article
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Abstract
backgroundBowlby's concept of attachment as a biobehavioral proximity-regulating system providing infants with confidence in protection and support for exploration has been expanded to include early security's legacy for socialization processes. We report a continued programmatic effort to replicate our model of security as a potent catalyst moderating common maladaptive longitudinal cascades from early child difficulty to increased parental power assertion to externalizing developmental outcomes. We elucidate the multifinality of sequelae that can unfold from early child difficulty. Our moderated mediation model proposes that such cascades occur only in parent-child dyads with histories of insecure attachment in infancy; early security buffers those risks.
methodsChildren and Parents Study (CAPS) included 200 community mothers, fathers, and children from the U.S. Midwest. At 16 months (N = 194, 93 girls), we observed children's early difficulty (anger dysregulation) and security with each parent in the Strange Situation Paradigm. At 38 months (age 3, N = 175, 86 girls), we observed parents' power-assertive control. At 52 months (age 4.5, N = 177, 86 girls), we observed children's poor self-regulation and violations of conduct rules and obtained parents' reports of children's disruptive behavior.
resultsFor mothers and children, the indirect effects of early anger dysregulation at 16 months on all three outcomes at age 4.5, mediated via increased power assertion at age 3, were present only in insecure dyads, as reflected in significant moderated mediation. Comprehensive analysis that integrated all three outcomes further supported the robust moderating effect of early security for the entire developmental path from anger dysregulation to power assertion to child outcomes, and for each segment of that path. There were no findings for fathers.
conclusionsWe discuss the critical importance - and challenges - of replicating models of complex longitudinal cascades when elucidating multifinality throughthe lens unique to developmental psychology and psychopathology.
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