• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-90
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• 2006

Social deficits are the most critical and core deficits of the children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder(ASD) and they are qualitatively as well as qualitatively different from typically developing children. It is proposed that the attachment between the mother and the autistic child should be promoted foremost and early as possible, to improve social deficits, just like early social developments in normal children depend largely on interactions between the mother and the child who are attached to each other we have developed an interventional program, 'Attachment Promotion Therapy', largely based on the attachment theory. The Attachment promotion Therapy mandates the participation of both the mother and the autistic child, and consists of mutually enjoying play activities, close physical contacts and parental training on intense mother-child interactions, focusing on improving maternal sensitivity, responsiveness, and nurturing behaviors during their interactions. The program was found to be effective in improving attachment behaviors, attachment security and acquiring joint attention skills. Attachment Promotion Therapy is therefore proposed here as the important earliest intervention method for children with ASD and could become the base for many other educational and therapeutic interventions.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.137-154
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• 2005

The socio-emotional behaviors of 2-year-olds were examined by multiple attachments to mothers and child care providers in the context of home and child care centers. Participants were 100 children (mean age: 30.2 months), their mothers, and 27 child care providers. Attachment security was assessed with attachment Q-set. Children's social interaction with peers and teachers were rated every 10 seconds during 10 minute observation periods for 4 days, totaling40 minutes per child. Mothers and child care providers completed the Infant Toddler Socio-Emotional Assessment (ITSEA). Results showed that secure attachment relationships with child care providers partly compensated for insecure attachments with mothers at home. In the context of the child care center, secure attachments with child care providers were more important determinants of the development of socio-emotional behaviors than secure attachments with mothers.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.3-17
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• 1999

Maternal sensitivity and infant temperament were studied in relation to infant attachment security. Subjects were 47 one-year-old infants anti their mothers from intact upper-middle class families. Mothers sorted the Attachment Q-set (Waters, 1987, version 3.0) and filled out the Toddlers Temperament Questionnaire(Chu, 1992). Maternal sensitivity was observed in the home for two 3-hour sessions, and observers completed the Maternal Behavior Q-set(Pederson, Moran et al., 1990). Attachment security scores of the infants, using criterion scores developed with Korean infants, were 42, which is comparable to Previous studies. Infants who were securely attached to mothers showed more secure-based behaviors and compliance, enjoyed physical contacts, and showed less fussy/difficult behaviors with mothers. Mothers of girls were observed to be more sensitive to their infants' signals than mothers of boys. Maternal sensitivity scores were not related to infant security scores. However, maternal sensitivity was related to less compliance to mothers for boys.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.219-238
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• 2016

The purposes of this study were to examine relations among attachment security, playfulness, and social competence during the preschool period and to investigate relative effects of attachment security and playfulness on preschoolers' social competence. A total of forty eight 4-year-old preschool children participated in the current study. Attachment security was assessed using the Attachment Q-sort during a two- or two and half hour home visit. Preschoolers' playfulness and social competence were evaluated by mothers. First, preschoolers' attachment security was significantly associated with their interpersonal adjustment. Preschoolers with secure attachment were rated by their mothers as having higher interpersonal adjustment. In addition, preschoolers' playfulness was significantly related to popularity/leadership and social participation. Second, when preschoolers' attachment security and playfulness were entered together to predict social competence, attachment security and sense of humor were significant predictors of preschoolers' interpersonal adjustment, and social and cognitive spontaneity significantly predicted popularity/leadership. With respect to social participation, preschoolers' physical spontaneity was a significant predictor. Findings of this study indicate that attachment security and playfulness tap into different aspects of social competence, suggesting that both are needed to be emphasized in the development of social competence during the preschool period.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-25
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore about 2-year-old infants' attachment security to a child care teacher and peer play process through a case study. For this purpose, the attachment security was assessed with attachment Q-set to 2-year-old five infants at a day care center in Seoul. Participants of this study are four infants included two infants attached securely to their child care teacher and two infants attached insecurely to their child care teacher. Methods: Participant observation was conducted from April 12 to July 19 in 2018 through 36 observations in free play activities. The Data collected from the transcriptions of video shoots and teachers' interviews, child care plans, and reflexive journal was analyzed and interpreted. Results: The main results of the research were as follows: The beginning of peer play, when infants invited their peers to play, secure attachment infants selected suitable play partners and asked for a specific play behaviors. However, insecure attachment infants invited unsuitable play partners and asked uncertainly play actions to peers. In addition, when infants entered in-progress play, secure attachment infants understood the context of play but insecure attachment infants did not understand the context of play. In the progress of peer play, secure attachment infants cooperated with peers, shared play objects, but insecure attachment infants did not cooperate complementally with peers and express only their opinions. As well, insecure attachment infants could not play harmoniously without child care teacher's interventions. In the end of the peer play, secure attachment infants finished in collaboration with peers but insecure attachment infants failed to finish with the peers and was turned into play with the child care teacher because of peer conflict. Conclusion/Implications: This study has implications for basic resources to think about the role of child care teachers by helping them understand about the relation 2-year-old infants' attachment security to them and peer play process.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.375-386
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• 2015

This study examines the effects of parent-child attachment across the child's life from a life-span developmental perspective. The study investigates the effects of a child's attachment to his or her mother in childhood on his or her school attachment as an adult student and explores the role of self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between these two variables. A total of 529 S Cyber University students taking social welfare classes participated in this study. These students completed a questionnaire about their present level of self-esteem, attachment to their mother in childhood, and school adjustment. According to the SEM results, adult students' self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between their mother-child attachment in childhood and their school adjustment in adulthood. Attachment security for the mother in childhood was related to the child's own internal working model, and positive self-esteem was related to school adjustment.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 1999

This study focused on the temperament of infants and on maternal sensitivity in the investigation of the factors which affect infant-mother attachment. The 67 infant-mother pairs were divided into two groups on the basis of attachment security scores. Results showed a relationship between infant-mother attachment and temperament. There was also a relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant temperament. Factors most strongly affecting infant-mother attachment were infant's sociability, mother's emotion, and mother's satisfaction with the degree of infant's sociability.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 1995

This study aimed (1) to classify Korean kindergarten childrens' attachment to their mothers based on a system for classifying attachment organization developed by Main and Cassidy (1988), and (2) to investigate the relationship of attachment and temperament and mothers' child rearing behavior. 76 kindergarteners and their mothers were observed and videotaped in the strange situation. The modified PTQ(Parent and Teacher Temperament Questionnaire) for children 3-7 years of age and the IPBI(Iowa Parent Behavior Inventory: Mother Form) were administered respectively to 76 mothers to assess their parenting behavior and their children's temperament. The data were analyzed by percentiles, Pearson's correlations, and canonical correlation analysis. Results indicated that there was a little difference between the attachment classification of Main and Cassidy(1988) and that of Korean kindergarten children. There were significant correlations between children's temperament and the attachment to their mother. And mothers' parenting behavior was significantly related to the security of attachment. The canonical correlation analysis indicated that independent variables all together accounted for about 7.5% of the variation in attachment-variables.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.217-228
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• 1992

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of early full-time nonparental care during infancy/toddlerhood on children's socioemotional behaviors during the preschool period. Subjects for this study were 105 three- to five-year-olds from middle-class families in the U. S. A. Children were assigned to one of three groups according to their early care history. Children's social interactions with peers and caregivers during indoor free-play sessions in day care centers were observed for 20 minutes. The head teachers rated the children's social and emotional behaviors on two questionnaires. Mothers completed the Attachment Q-sort for attachment assessment for the preschoolers. In addition, mothers were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their parenting practices. Children who had received full-time nonparental care during infancy and/or toddlerhood were rated by their teachers as being more intellectually competent than children who did not receive full-time nonparental care during first three years of life. They were, however, rated by teachers and were observed by the researcher as being more aggressive than children with no full-time nonparental care. These children were observed to engage in less wandering/onlooking behaviors than children who had not had any full-time nonparental care. Children's attachment security scores and dependency scores did not differ as a function of early nonparental care histories. When the effects of early care patterns, sex of child, and current attachment security to mothers on aggressive behaviors of the preschoolers were examined by a hierarchical regression model, then any "pure" effects of nonparental care and of attachment security on child aggression were minimal after controlling for family background, child care center quality, and maternal childrearing practices. Strong buffering factors for the preschool children (family characteristics, parenting styles, and high quality nonparental care) mediated a possible risk factor of early nonparental care and promoted optimal outcomes for the children.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2006

The effects of the Attachment Promotion Therapy (APT) program for the autistic children were reviewed by 8 papers. The program was consisted with play activity centered mother-child interaction, educational activity for parents, lecture, video-feedback, and support. APT program was effective to improve the attachment behaviors and attachment security. And the mother's behaviors to her child became more child-centered, positively responsive, expressive supportively. Ninety six point seven percent of the mothers were satisfied with the APT program. They described that it was helpful to understand their children's developmental limitation and strength, to learn how to play with their children, to make supportive social network among the mothers, to minimize familial conflicts, and to make them much more comfortable with their children. They thought the APT Program was to be a steppingstone of the further educational program. APT program is an effective early intervention to promote social development and decrease autistic problems.