Attachment styles and aggression in physically abused and neglected children

Attachment theory provides a valuable conceptual model for understanding th e role of the parent-child relationship and its consequences for the child' s emerging self-concept and view of the social world. Attachment style is a n individial-difference variable that is rooted in the child's early, reari ng experience and provides the context for later emotional, behavioral, and cognitive transactions with the environment. The ain? of this study was to compare physically, abused (n = 41), and neglected children (n = 38) with nonabused/nonneglected children (n = 35) aged 6-12 years, in terms of their attachment styles and their levels of aggression. We found that the physic ally abused children were significantly characterized by the avoidant attac hment style and manifested significantly higher levels of aggression, and t he neglected children were significantly characterized with the anxious/amb ivalent attachment style. The strategies that the physically abused and neg lected children adapted for interactions with their parents also marked the ir relationships outside the family. Thus, physically, abused children are at risk of antisocial behavior and sustained suspicion toward the others, a nd neglected children are at risk of social with drawal, and social rejecti on and feelings of incompetence.