Infant distress at child care entry: Associations with infant-mother attachment

Seventy 15-month old infants were involved in a study that investigated dis tress indexes and emotional responses (infant mood) at child care entry in relation to mother-infant attachment. The purpose of the study was to explo re whether securely attached infants would experience less distress than in securely attached infants. Prior to entry, mother and infant were observed in Ainsworth and Wittig's (1969) Strange Situation, which revealed 49 % sec urely and 51 % insecurely attached infants. Videotaped and heart rate recor dings were taken for 30 minutes on the first and last day of an adaptation phase, in which mothers were present at the child care centers. Following t his time, infants experienced normal separation from their mothers, and res ponses were again recorded on days 1, 5, 9, and in month 5. On all occasion s, distress indexes were quantified for three different situations; (1) Arr ival, (2) Play, and (3) Group experience, and were compared to those taken at home prior to child care entry. At home, secure infants did not differ i n their cardiac activities from other infants. In child care, secure infant s exhibited less distress across all situations when their mothers were pre sent. Even on the first separation day, when secure infants displayed the h ighest level of negative mood, less distress in Play was typical for them. After repeated separation experiences, distress indexes of secure and insec ure infants converged across all situations, with both generally improving over time.