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Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan pp 47–66Cite as

Parent–Child Relationships and Attachment

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Abstract

From birth onwards the quality and nature of the primary parent–child relationship plays an important role in a child’s life and has been found to be a key factor in the developmental prospects for the child. The quality of parent–child relationships considerably differs between parent–child dyads and is considered as a broad multidimensional concept with several interconnected elements: (1) the child’s overt interactional behaviors; (2) the parent’s overt interactional behaviors; (3) the parent’s representations of that interaction; and (4) the child’s representation of that same interaction. These concepts can be assessed by various methods. In this chapter, we give an overview of the important role of parent–child relationships and attachment for children’s development, assessment methods and the implications for research, practice, and policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Hedwig J. A. van Bakel & Ruby A. S. Hall

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  1. Hedwig J. A. van Bakel
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  2. Ruby A. S. Hall
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Correspondence to Hedwig J. A. van Bakel .

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  1. Parenting and Family Support Centre School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Matthew R. Sanders

  2. Parenting and Family Support Centre School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Alina Morawska

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van Bakel, H.J.A., Hall, R.A.S. (2018). Parent–Child Relationships and Attachment. In: Sanders, M., Morawska, A. (eds) Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_3

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