THE RELATIONSHIP OF MATERNAL-BEHAVIOR AND ACCULTURATION TO THE QUALITY OF ATTACHMENT IN HISPANIC INFANTS LIVING IN NEW-YORK-CITY

The present exploratory study examined maternal parenting behavior and patterns of attachment using the Ainsworth Strange Situation with a H ispanic sample. Twenty-four Puerto Rican and 26 Dominican mother-infan t dyads were videotaped in the strange situation and observed in their homes. As in other cross-cultural and subcultural studies, the patter n of attachment classifications differed from that reported for middle -class Euro-American populations: Overall there was an equal number of secure and insecure infants. Additionally, there were sex differences in the distributions of attachment patterns: Although two thirds of t he boys were securely attached, two thirds of the girls were insecurel y attached The maternal behaviors that distinguished mothers of secure ly from insecurely attached infants in this study were also disparate from those found in previous studies using non-Hispanic samples. These findings provide a descriptive basis for future research with Hispani cs and are important for their implications regarding the development of inner-city Hispanic children.