The role of caregiver attachment in vicarious fear learning in children

Vicarious learning is the process through which individuals acquire fear responses by observing others behaving fearfully. The current study investigates how attachment to parents may moderate vicarious fear learning in children. Although attachment to caregivers plays a crucial role in emotional regulation, its potential to moderate fear learning via vicarious experiences remains underexplored. Experiment 1 showed no moderating effect of attachment when strangers served as models. In Experiment 2, where mothers served as the models, attachment quality did not significantly affect fear beliefs. However, attachment was related to avoidance behaviour. Specifically, children’s avoidance of the fear-paired animal post-learning was greater when maternal trust and overall attachment quality were lower. For paternal attachment, avoidance of the fear-paired animal was associated with overall attachment quality and communication. Hierarchical analyses confirmed that maternal trust and paternal trust and communication moderated changes in avoidance from pre- to post-learning. Additionally, the touch box task showed that maternal attachment, particularly alienation, influenced approach behaviour toward the fear-paired animal, whereas paternal attachment did not. Children with stronger maternal attachment and better communication were slower to approach the fear-paired animal. These findings suggest that lower attachment quality is linked to greater avoidance of fear-related stimuli, highlighting the role of attachment in shaping behavioural, rather than cognitive, responses in vicarious fear learning. The results contribute to understanding the complex interplay between attachment and emotional learning, suggesting potential pathways for further research into specific attachment dimensions and other moderators of vicarious fear learning.

© 2025 The Author(s). Social Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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