An attachment framework for the study of shame : associations between security, parenting, temperament and shame-proneness in early childhood

The current study investigated associations between parenting and children's shame-proneness, as well as the additive and moderating influences of temperament and attachment. A sample of 66 children 6- to 8-years-of age (36 females, 30 males) and their mothers participated. While mothers completed questionnaire measures related to parenting, children's self-conscious emotions and temperamental characteristics, the principal investigator worked with child participants to complete several measures, including self-report of self-conscious emotions using hypothetical scenarios and a semi-projective narrative task tapping internal working models of attachment. Findings revealed that all three domains of parenting, temperament, and attachment played important and unique roles in the explanation of shame-proneness. An additive model across domains explained maternal report of children's shame-proneness, whereas findings for children's self-reported shame-proneness were more complex and included counter-intuitive moderating effects of attachment and, to a lesser degree, negative affectivity. Convergent results across the two informants indicated that, as predicted, coercive parenting practices (i.e., love withdrawal, power assertiveness, conditional approval) and unsupportive emotion coaching were related to greater shameproneness. Divergent findings across mother and child informants included additional main effects for mother-reported shame-proneness and parenting (i.e., authoritarian parenting, focusing on negative child characteristics, disgust) versus several interactive effects for child-reported shame-proneness. Specifically, higher levels of attachment intensified the shame-inducing impact of love withdrawal, maternal focus on negative child attributes, and power assertiveness; conversely higher levels of attachment appeared to intensify the negative association between permissive parenting and shame-proneness. Further, lower levels of negative affectivity were found to strengthen the relation between conditional approval and shame-proneness but for girls only. Some additional gender effects were also revealed in the prediction of child-reported shame-proneness and are discussed in light of growing recognition of differential socialization practices and their impact on boys and girls. Results are discussed in light of empirical research on parenting, temperament, attachment, and children's self-conscious emotions. Finally, potential limitations in the measurement of child reported self-conscious emotions are also discusse