Mother-child attachment and social anxiety: Associations with friendship skills and peer competence of Arab children

Abstract

The goal of the study was to examine the joint and distinct contribution of attachment security and social anxiety to Arab children’s peer competence in middle childhood. We focused on Arab children as very little research has examined close relationships for this group. A sample of 404 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade Arabic students (203 boys and 201 girls), mostly from lower middle-class neighborhoods in northern Israel, participated in the study. In a cross-sectional design, bivariate correlations and regression analyses were performed, and findings revealed that attachment security was negatively related to distancing strategies in help-seeking and help-giving contexts, whereas social anxiety was positively related to these strategies. Secure attachment was also associated with providing reassurance to friends, and with peer competence as perceived by teachers. The possible implications of the socio-cultural context, suggestions for future studies, and implications for school intervention are discussed.