The value of attachment theory – much disputed by parenting experts despite its importance in behavioral psychology – is re-examined in a new study by researchers at the Oregon Social Learning Center.

Attachment is a psychological term that has migrated into common parlance. We all know that children should be 'attached' to their parents (particularly to their mothers) or bad things might happen. Indeed, infants observed to be comforted by their mother’s presence, but also able to play independently, seem to be better adjusted than children who ignore their parents or who desperately cling to them.

Attentive, consistent parenting, according to attachment theory, leads to what psychologists call 'secure attachment.' So one might guess that foster children would have a particular problem with attachment: to have experienced abusive or neglectful parents and then to be bounced from one foster family to another cannot do much that sense of inner security.

Some critics of attachment theory note that research in this area tends to ignore the fact that natural mothers are genetically related to children. So one cannot rule out the explanation that mothers who have calm, loving dispositions tend to be attentive and consistent in their parenting and to have well-adjusted children. But it’s not clear whether their main gift to their children is good genes or good parenting.

One way to test whether this type of parenting helps children is to teach parents to be more attentive and consistent and see what happens to the children.

The authors of a recent article in Prevention Science, (see Intervention Effects on Foster Preschoolers’ Attachment-Related Behaviors from a Randomized Trial), note that there is little evidence that interventions designed to improve attachment security in children have been successful. However, they give it another shot in a study of a parenting program for foster families.

Philip A. Fisher and Hyoun K. Kim examined change in attachment-related behaviors among foster preschoolers (3-5 year olds) participating in the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program for Preschoolers (MTFC-P) in the state of Oregon.

MTFC-P provides intensive training for foster parents and therapeutic support for foster children with the aim of establishing a positive, responsive, and consistent environment for the children. In the course of a year, the researchers surveyed foster parents randomly chosen to participate in MTFC-P and foster parents who did not participate. The foster parents in both groups were asked how their foster children responded to being hurt, frightened, or separated from them.

They found that foster parents who received the training reported significant increases in 'secure behavior' (eg, moving toward or signaling to the caregiver), and significant decreases in 'avoidant behavior' (eg, ignoring or moving away from the caregiver) relative to the reports of foster parents who were not trained. In other words, the intervention appeared to increase children's ability to rely on foster parents for comfort when distressed.

The study was not without its limitations (eg, relying on foster parents for information rather than collecting information from or observing children themselves). Neither did it assess whether children were better adjusted as a result of the program – only whether they appeared to be closer to their foster parents. However, the results provide hope that there is a way to help caregivers – particularly those caring for the most vulnerable children– to better help kids.