Practitioner Review: Clinical insights from attachment theory and research for professionals working with young children and their families

Attachment theory, with its core concepts, perspectives, and insights developed over the past five decades, is influential for professionals working with young children. However, practitioners face challenges translating attachment theory and research into practical applications. This manifests in attachment myths, theoretical misinterpretations, and inconsistency of application. This state-of-the-art review is authored by 47 attachment researchers and practitioners and examines key insights from attachment theory to facilitate attachment-aware practice for professionals working with children and their caregivers. Following the ongoing debate on practical relevance in attachment theory, we present both 'strict' and 'expansive' translational perspectives on applications for addressing preventative or clinical attachment concerns. We first review core attachment propositions, based on replicated research of attachment and caregiving. We next address common misconceptions that hinder adequate practical applications. We present measures of attachment and sensitive parenting that might be helpful for practitioners. We also review evidence-based and promising attachment interventions, discussing core components of (preventative) support for parents or caregivers and the children in their care. We emphasize that attachment theory's clinical value lies not in assigning attachment classifications, but rather in understanding crucial insights into caregiving and early socioemotional development (e.g., secure base phenomena; the value of safe, stable, and shared good-enough care), developed in attachment research over the past 50 years, that may inform policy and clinical reasoning and areas for prevention and intervention.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Published
2026-02-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70126
Primary Topic
Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Practitioner Review: Clinical insights from attachment theory and research for professionals working with young children and their families

Howard Steele, Ed Tronick, Ryan D. Steele, Larissa Rossen et al.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
article

Practitioner Review: Clinical insights from attachment theory and research for professionals working with young children and their families

Howard Steele, Ed Tronick, Ryan D. Steele, Larissa Rossen, Phillip R. Shaver, Jeremy Holmes, Mary E. Dozier, Karine Dubois‐Comtois, Matt Woolgar, Alessandro Talia, R. Duschinsky, MIRIAM STEELE, Pehr Granqvist, Alicia F. Lieberman, Mirjam Oosterman, Jay Belsky, Ashley Wazana, Chantal Cyr, Avi Sagi-Schwartz, Jessica E. Opie, Ross A. Thompson, Robert S. Marvin, Dante Cicchetti, Peter Fonagy, Guy Bosmans, Carlo Schuengel, Marije Verhage, Karin Grossmann, Or Dagan, Anne Tharner, Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg, Pascal Vrtička, Marinus H van IJzendoorn, R M Pasco Fearon, K Lee Raby, Brian Allen, Megan Galbally, Judith A Crowell, Sarah Foster, Mårten Hammarlund, Elizabeth Carlson, Peter Zimmermann, L Alan Sroufe, Tommie Forslund, Everett Waters
article en

Abstract

Attachment theory, with its core concepts, perspectives, and insights developed over the past five decades, is influential for professionals working with young children. However, practitioners face challenges translating attachment theory and research into practical applications. This manifests in attachment myths, theoretical misinterpretations, and inconsistency of application. This state-of-the-art review is authored by 47 attachment researchers and practitioners and examines key insights from attachment theory to facilitate attachment-aware practice for professionals working with children and their caregivers. Following the ongoing debate on practical relevance in attachment theory, we present both 'strict' and 'expansive' translational perspectives on applications for addressing preventative or clinical attachment concerns. We first review core attachment propositions, based on replicated research of attachment and caregiving. We next address common misconceptions that hinder adequate practical applications. We present measures of attachment and sensitive parenting that might be helpful for practitioners. We also review evidence-based and promising attachment interventions, discussing core components of (preventative) support for parents or caregivers and the children in their care. We emphasize that attachment theory's clinical value lies not in assigning attachment classifications, but rather in understanding crucial insights into caregiving and early socioemotional development (e.g., secure base phenomena; the value of safe, stable, and shared good-enough care), developed in attachment research over the past 50 years, that may inform policy and clinical reasoning and areas for prevention and intervention.

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
The New School (US), University of Essex (GB), Uppsala University (SE), Western University (CA), University of Minnesota (US), Long Island University (US), Université du Québec à Montréal (CA), Stockholm University (SE), University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US), University of Wuppertal (DE), University of Calgary (CA), University of California, San Francisco (US), King's College London (GB), South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (GB), University of Utah (US), University of Exeter (GB), University of Cambridge (GB), Trinity Western University (CA), Anna Freud Centre (GB), Jewish General Hospital (CA), Alberta Children's Hospital (CA), San Sebastián University (CL), Northumbria University (GB), ISPA - Instituto Universitário (PT), Monash Health (AU), Ainsworth Institute of Pain Management (US), Era (Sweden) (SE), University College London (GB), McGill University (CA), University of Virginia (US), Monash University (AU), Stony Brook University (US), University of Regensburg (DE), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (CA), Tel Hai Academic College (IL), University of Missouri (US), Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (US), University of California, Davis (US), University of Delaware (US), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL), University of Haifa (IL), University of Lausanne (CH), KU Leuven (BE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 50%
Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
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