engleski

The assessment of attachment behavior during adaptation to kindergarten regarding gender and age differences

From the perspective of the attachment theory, which is the theoretical framework of this research, the early childhood educator is distinguished as a significant figure, who can provide the children with support for research, protection and comfort in this stress situation. Therefore, this paper focuses on exploring the attachment behaviors of children in adapting to kindergarten, and their gender and age differences. An Attachment Style Checklist was used to assess the attachment behaviors in the preschool environment through four dimensions, fulfilled by 160 early childhood educators who rated the behavior of 408 children aged 1 to 6 years during their adaptation period. Statistical analyses revealed that 246 children exhibit patterns of secure attachment and positive emotional states ; 288 children show positive behaviors and 220 children show adequate play and interaction with peers. In other words, the estimates of the largest number of children (ranging from 220 to 288) point to secure forms of attachment. Assessment of gender and age-related attachment behaviors showed that there is no significant correlation between the focus variable and the age of children, and that there are significant gender differences in the dimensions of attachment and behavior of children. The boys are rated as those who have significantly more unsecure attachment than girls did, and the girls were rated as those with significantly more negative behavior than the boys did. The findings indicate significant implications for improving the work of educators during the adaptation of children to kindergarten.

Adaptation ; Age ; Attachment ; Gender ; Kindergarten

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