Prospecting the attachment research field: a move to the level of engagement

This paper reviews 75 meta-analyses on child-parent attachment research to understand trends in the field. It finds that effect sizes in attachment research may need recalibration and identifies shifting research interests toward interventions and mental health while declining attention to attachment relationships and representations. The authors argue that future attachment research should engage more directly with stakeholders addressing real-world child welfare challenges.

Key points

• Attachment research effect size benchmarks may need adjustment to small (r = .10), medium (r = .20), and large (r = .30)
• 53% of meta-analyses tested attachment theory rather than practical applications
• Increasing research interest in interventions, mental health, and attachment anxiety/avoidance dimensions
• Declining research focus on attachment relationships and representations, except for sensitivity and fathers
• Future attachment research should engage stakeholders to address child welfare challenges

Limitations

This is a literature review and bibliometric analysis that describes research trends rather than evaluating outcomes for children. It does not assess the actual effectiveness of any interventions on child well-being, only the patterns of research publications.