ReviewJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2026
Practitioner Review: Clinical insights from attachment theory and research for professionals working with young children and their families.
Jessica E Opie, Everett Waters, Robbie Duschinsky, Mårten Hammarlund, Sheri Madigan, Sarah Foster, Tommie Forslund, Ross Thompson, Howard Steele, Miriam Steele and 37 more
Abstract readReview
In one paragraphReview 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. Not yet cited in PubMed.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
2 · The registryThe trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
3 · Its place in the literatureWho cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
4 · The recordCorrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
5 · Who and what moneyAuthors and funding
47 authors.
Everett WatersDepartment of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1738-4971 Robbie DuschinskyDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2023-5328 Sarah FosterDepartment of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6487-7309 Alessandro TaliaInstitut de Psychologie, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9543-4295 Larissa RossenDepartment of Counselling Psychology, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-9382-0387 Ed TronickDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
R M Pasco FearonResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1847-8443 Abraham Sagi-SchwartzDepartment of Psychology and the Center for the Study of Child Development, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.ORCID 0000-0002-6813-0667 Alicia LiebermanDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Peter ZimmermannDepartment of Developmental Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0609-4103 Phillip R ShaverDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Carlo SchuengelSection of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5501-3341 Karine Dubois-ComtoisDepartment of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4009-9861 Marije VerhageSection of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8207-2283 Anne TharnerSection of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7846-5762 Mirjam OostermanSection of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1487-4775 Judith A CrowellDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Pascal VrtičkaCentre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8920-5509 Matthew WoolgarDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3618-0395 Jeremy HolmesDepartment of Clinical Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Robert S MarvinSchool of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Marinus H van IJzendoornDivision of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1144-454X Marian J Bakermans-KranenburgFacultad de Psicología y Humanidades, Universidad San Sebastián, Sede Valdivia, Chile.ORCID 0000-0001-7763-0711 Funding
Adult Cognitive and Neurobiological Indicators of Aging: Impact of Adversity and Social SupportR01AG070138 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI ELIZABETH A CARLSON, KATHLEEN M THOMAS · 2022 to 2026
$3.0MNeural mechanisms of psychological risk on mother and infant adjustment in African American and European American familiesR01HD108218 · NICHD · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Ashley Marie Groh, Helena JV Rutherford · 2023 to 2026
$2.3MAMG was supported by funding from the NSF 2017920AW receive funding from the CIHR grant UIP-179221AW receive funding from the CIHR grant WI2-179938NIA NIH HHS R01 AG070138NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD108218RD receives funding from the Wellcome Trust WT103343MASM and CC receive funding support by the Canada Research Chairs program.
6 · The paper itselfAbstract
Attachment theory, with its core concepts, perspectives, and insights developed over the past five decades, is influential for professionals working with young children. However, practitioners face challenges translating attachment theory and research into practical applications. This manifests in attachment myths, theoretical misinterpretations, and inconsistency of application. This state-of-the-art review is authored by 47 attachment researchers and practitioners and examines key insights from attachment theory to facilitate attachment-aware practice for professionals working with children and their caregivers. Following the ongoing debate on practical relevance in attachment theory, we present both 'strict' and 'expansive' translational perspectives on applications for addressing preventative or clinical attachment concerns. We first review core attachment propositions, based on replicated research of attachment and caregiving. We next address common misconceptions that hinder adequate practical applications. We present measures of attachment and sensitive parenting that might be helpful for practitioners. We also review evidence-based and promising attachment interventions, discussing core components of (preventative) support for parents or caregivers and the children in their care. We emphasize that attachment theory's clinical value lies not in assigning attachment classifications, but rather in understanding crucial insights into caregiving and early socioemotional development (e.g., secure base phenomena; the value of safe, stable, and shared good-enough care), developed in attachment research over the past 50 years, that may inform policy and clinical reasoning and areas for prevention and intervention.
Indexed as
Object AttachmentParent-Child RelationsParentingPsychological TheoryChildChild, PreschoolHumansAttachment‐informed interventionsAttachment mythsClinical translationEarly childhoodParent–child relationshipsParenting
Identifiers
PMID41736561
PMCPMC13102048
What OpenQuestion holds
Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390