Attachment and the Self-Concept in Early Childhood

유아의 어머니에 대한 애착과 자아개념

The Pattern of Young Child-Mother Attachment and the Self-Concept in Young Children. This work sheds light on the patterns of chi1dren's attachment to their mother and the self-concept of young children. Ninety-two participants were selected from kindergarten and nurseries in the city of Taegu. All the children were from 3 to 5 clears old. The measurement instruments were the attachment story completion task, created by Cassidy, and the self-concept test, designed and used by Bently and Yeatts. The data was analyzed by using frequencies, percentages, independent-samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and the Scheffe test. The study's major findings are as follows: First, in the area of young child-mother attachments, the most common pattern was a secure attachment. The percentage of insecure-avoidant attachment was similar to that of the insecure-ambivalent attachment. Second, in terms of gender, there were no significant differences in self-concept among young children. Third, the self-concept held by young children varied significantly according to age. The younger the age, the more positive was the self-concept. Finally, the self-concept of children varied greatly according to the pattern of child-mother attachment. Those children who were more securely attacked to their mothers evidenced a more positive self-concept than those children who were insecurely attached to their mother.