The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between externalizing behaviors and the quality of attachment representations in preschool children, and to determine if family type and custody arrangement had a moderating effect on this relationship. The participants were 33 girls and 31 boys (n = 64) aged between three and six years (M = 4.75; SD = 0.87 years) and their mothers. Among them, 36 came from “intact” families, 13 were living mainly with their mothers and 15 were in joint physical custody. Children’s attachment representations were assessed with the Attachment Story Completion Task (Bretherton, Ridgeway & Cassidy, 1990). Mothers reported on their child’s behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and on their alliance with the father using the Parenting Alliance Inventory (Abidin & Brunner, 1995). Although children’s externalizing behaviors were found to be associated with the disorganization of their attachment representations, this relationship was significantly weaker and was non‐significant for children in joint physical custody. Thus, the results of this pilot study suggest that joint custody may protect children of separated parents from the effects of attachment disorganization on externalizing behaviors.

中文翻译：

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不同性别父母的子女的外在行为和依恋紊乱：联合身体监护的保护作用

这项研究的目的是检查学龄前儿童的外在行为与依恋表征质量之间的关系，并确定家庭类型和监护安排是否对该关系起到调节作用。参与者为33名女孩和31名男孩（n = 64），年龄在3至6岁之间（M  = 4.75；SD = 0.87岁）和他们的母亲。其中，有36个来自“完好无损”的家庭，有13个主要与母亲同住，有15个由共同身体监护。用依恋故事完成任务（Bretherton，Ridgeway和Cassidy，1990）对儿童的依恋表达进行评估。母亲使用“儿童行为清单”（Achenbach＆Rescorla，2001）报告了孩子的行为问题，并使用“育儿联盟清单”（Abidin＆Brunner，1995）报告了与父亲的同盟关系。尽管发现儿童的外在行为与其依恋表征的混乱有关，但这种关系明显较弱，对于联合监护下的儿童而言，这种关系并不重要。从而，