Looking beyond Maternal Sensitivity: Mother–Child Correlates of Attachment Security among Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Urban India

This study examined correlates of attachment security among children with intellectual disabilities in urban India. Survey
and observational data were gathered from 47 children, mothers, and teachers on children’s attachment security, adaptive functioning,
and mother–child emotional availability. The data were analyzed to examine whether child emotional availability mediates the
links between maternal emotional availability and child attachment security, and between child functioning and attachment
security. The results supported full mediation, indicating that children’s emotional availability was a primary mechanism
through which maternal emotional availability and child functioning were linked to attachment security among children in our
sample. The study findings are discussed in the context of implications for family interventions and research on socio-emotional
development among children with intellectual disabilities.