ATTACHMENT STYLES AND PARENTAL RESPONSES TO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

<doi>10.24250/jpe/1/2026/PH/TD/</doi>

Abstract

Early socio-emotional development in children is significantly influenced by the quality of the attachment relationship and by the way parents manage children’s negative emotions. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between parents’ attachment styles and their ability to respond to the negative emotions of preschool-aged children. The research has a non-experimental, cross-sectional design and was conducted on a sample of 48 parents of children aged between 3 and 6 years, recruited from preschool educational institutions in the municipality of Lugoj. Data were collected through an online questionnaire using two psychometric instruments: the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS), used to assess attachment styles, and the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES), used to evaluate parental responses to children’s negative emotions. The results of the Pearson correlation analyses indicate the existence of statistically significant relationships between attachment styles and parental responses. Secure attachment was negatively correlated with punitive reactions, suggesting a lower likelihood of using punishment-based strategies in managing children’s emotions. In contrast, the anxious–ambivalent attachment style was positively associated with punitive reactions and with the minimization of negative emotions. In addition, parental distress reactions were strongly correlated with punitive and minimizing reactions, indicating that parents’ emotional regulation difficulties may influence their response strategies to children’s emotions. On the other hand, encouraging emotional expression was associated with parental responses focused on emotion and on problem-solving. The results highlight the importance of parental attachment style in the development of children’s emotional regulation competencies and support the need for educational interventions and parental counseling programs aimed at promoting secure attachment.