2016
Association between infant nighttime-sleep location and attachment security: No easy verdict
Publication
Publication
Infant Mental Health Journal , Volume 37 - Issue 1 p. 5- 16
We tested whether mother-infant bed-sharing is associated with increased secure infant-mother attachment, a previously unexplored association. Frequency of bed-sharing and mothers' nighttime comforting measures at 2 months were assessed with questionnaires in 550 Caucasian mothers from a population-based cohort. Attachment security was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure (M.D.S. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) at 14 months. When using a dichotomous variable, "never bed-sharing" (solitary sleepers) versus "any bed-sharing," the relative risk of being classified as insecurely attached for solitary-sleeping infants (vs. bed-sharers) was 1.21 (95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.40). In multivariate models, solitary sleeping was associated with greater odds of insecure attachment, adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.50, 95% CI = 1.02-2.20) and, in particular, with greater odds of resistant attachment, adjusted OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.10-2.76); and with a lower attachment security score, β = -0.12, t(495) = -2.61, p = .009. However, we found no evidence of a dose-response association between bed-sharing and secure attachment when using a trichotomous bed-sharing variable based on frequency of bed-sharing. Our findings demonstrate some evidence that solitary sleeping is associated with insecure attachment. However, the lack of a dose-response association suggests that further experimental study is necessary before accepting common notions that sharing a bed leads to children who are better or not better adjusted.
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doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21547, hdl.handle.net/1765/87515 | |
Infant Mental Health Journal | |
Organisation | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
Mileva-Seitz, V., Luijk, M., van IJzendoorn, R., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Jaddoe, V., Hofman, A., … Tiemeier, H. (2016). Association between infant nighttime-sleep location and attachment security: No easy verdict. Infant Mental Health Journal, 37(1), 5–16. doi:10.1002/imhj.21547 |