Author(s)

Jennifer E. McIntosh^1,2,3,4*, Evelyn S. Tan^1,2,5, Christopher J. Greenwood^1,2, Anna T. Booth³, Jessica E. Opie³, Bi-Xia Ke¹, Carol George⁶, Delyse M. Hutchinson^1,2,4,7, Robert S. Marvin^8,9, Craig A. Olsson^1,2,4

¹Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
²Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
³School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
⁴Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵Centre for Evidence and Implementation, Singapore City, Singapore.
⁶Psychology Department, Mills College, Oakland, CA, USA.
⁷National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia.
⁸The Ainsworth Attachment Clinic, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
⁹School of Medicine, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.

Objective: We aimed to develop and validate Australian guidelines to support accurate assessment of preschool attachment by researchers and by child clinical psychologists and allied pracitioners. Method: The Australian Preschool Attachment Scales (APAS) were developed through grounded item generation and validated with data from 121 Australian preschool child and parent dyads, for whom we compared codes assigned by certified researchers and na?ve clinical coders. Results: APAS scores from reliable and na?ve coders were highly correlated (r = 0.52 - 0.79). Accuracy of organised attachment classifications using the APAS was high for both reliable and na?ve coders (κ = 0.89), and for identification of disorganised attachment (κ = 0.71). Conclusions: This pilot study supports use of the APAS to facilitate training in observation and interpretation of attachment behaviours by clinicians. Further research to improve the alignment between the APAS and the PACS is discussed.

Attachment, Pre-School Children, Validity, Rating Scales, Assessment

McIntosh, J. , Tan, E. , Greenwood, C. , Booth, A. , Opie, J. , Ke, B. , George, C. , Hutchinson, D. , Marvin, R. and Olsson, C. (2023) Development and Validation of the Australian Preschool Attachment Scales. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 11, 366-384. doi: 10.4236/jss.2023.1111025.