This application requests support for two related investigations of attachment to parents and to daycare providers. In the first investigation, the quality of infant-parent and of infant-alternate caregiver attachment will be examined in a series of home-based and center-based observations. The hypothesis is that infants' attachments to parents and to alternate caregivers will be relatively independent, that is, no more than moderately correlated using Attachment Q-sort methodology. In addition, the short-term stability of infant-alternate caregiver will be assessed using the same methodology. Finally, the qualities of the center are anticipated to relate to infant-alternate caregiver security of attachment. In the second investigation, the predictive association between infant attachment and subsequent socioemotional functioning at 24-30 months will be examined. The goodness of fit of three different models will be evaluated using structural equation modeling.
