Purpose

When the primary caregivers (usually the mother) can reliably respond to the preschool children, it benefits the children's physical and mental adaptation and social emotional development in future. Although this is a common consensus in the field of family life education, it is not easy for caregivers to keep responsive parenting. The main purpose of this study is to explore the bidirectional influences between mothers' responsive parenting and preschool children's secure attachment behavior. On the one hand, this study used the database from Taiwanese families to replicate the argument in the attachment theory that the mothers' reliable responsiveness has a positive effect on their preschool children's secure attachment behavior. On the other hand, this study explored the stability of mothers' responsive parenting during children’s 36 to 60 months old and further investigated the children’s secure attachment behavior also has a positive effect on mothers' responsiveness parenting.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a longitudinal database collected from Kids in Taiwan Study, which were completed by mothers when their children were 36, 48, and 60 months old. The total valid sample size was 1,051, with 520 completed by boy̕s mothers and 531 by girl̕s mother. A cross-lagged model was conducted through structural equation modeling to investigate the stability of mothers̕ responsive parenting and the bidirectional influences between mothers̕ responsive parenting and children̕s secure attachment behavior.

Findings/results

The results of the hypothetical model with an acceptable fitness (SBχ2 = 303.571, df = 202, p < .001, SBχ2/df = 1.503, CFI = .979, TLI = .972, RMSEA = .022, 90%CI of RMSEA = [.017, .027] , SRMR = .028) indicated that the effect of mothers̕ responsive parenting (when their children aged 36 months) was positive and significant on children’s secure attachment behavior (when their children aged 48 months) (estimate = .168, p = .026, but the effect of mothers̕ responsive parenting (when their children aged 48 months) on children’s secure attachment behavior (when their children aged 60 months) was non-significant. Mothers̕ responsive parenting displayed moderate stability when their children aged from 36 to 48 months (estimate = .348, p < .001) and aged from 48 to 60 months (estimate = .441, p < .001). The effect of children’s secure attachment behavior (when they aged 36 months) was positive and significant on mothers̕ responsive parenting (when their children aged 48 months) (estimate = .275, p < .001), and the effect of children’s secure attachment behavior (when they aged 48 months) was positive and significant on mothers̕ responsive parenting (when their children aged 60 months) (estimate = .217, p < .001).

Originality/value

Through a cross-lagged model analysis, this study more rigorously explored a bidirectional association between the caregivers’ responsiveness and children’s secure attachment behavior. It also showed that the argument of attachment theory was applicable to the interaction between Taiwanese preschool children and their mothers. Furthermore, it highlighted that the preschool children play an agentive, functional, and mutual role in their mothers’ parenting task.

Implications for policy/practice

Based on the current results, this study encourages practitioners of family life education, or helpers of family counseling/consulting, could pay more attention to the importance of social emotional learning in the early life stage and understand the parental behaviors are not only plastic but contributed by children’s social emotional competency. And, parents are encouraged to view children’s interpersonal interaction performance in a more positive framework, which would benefit them keeping responsive parenting.