Preoccupied and Avoidant Coping during Middle Childhood

Prior research on attachment to caregivers during middle childhood has failed to include assessments of the divergent coping styles that insecure attachment can take. In this study, self-report scales were developed to assess children's preoccupied coping (strong need for mother during stress but inability to be soothed by her) and avoidant coping (denial of need for mother and avoidance of her during stress). The scales were administered to 229 boys and girls in the third through seventh grades (mean age 11.3 years) and were associated in theoretically meaningful ways with peers' reports of the children's adjustment at school. The advantage of including assessments of coping style in studies of attachment-adjustment relations in middle childhood is noted.