Attachment SECURITY and Behavioral Problems of Middle Childhood Boys in Republic of KOREA

This study examined the relationship between attachment security and clinical behavioral problems in a sam-ple of 155 middle childhood boys in Republic of Korea. We tested the following hypotheses: 1) attachment secu-rity is associated with internalizing problems in middle childhood boys and 2) attachment security is associated with externalizing problems in middle childhood boys. Semi-structured interview (Separation Anxiety Test) was applied to identify the attachment security, and K-CBCL was used to measure behavioral problems. Frequency analysis and chi-square test were conducted to identify clinically risky groups in behavioral problems and to in-vestigate the association with attachment security. The results of this study indicated that boys with insecure attachment type were more identified as a semi-clinical/clinical group in internalizing problems, but not in externalizing problems. These results were consistent with some previous studies which reported the relationship between attachment security and internalizing prob-lems, but in contrast to other studies which suggested the association between attachment security and exter-nalizing problems. Future studies are needed to further clarify the relationship between attachment security and externalizing problems of middle childhood boys in Republic of Korea. This study has following implications. First, we evaluated attachment security in middle childhood boys applying semi-structured attachment interview ra-ther than self-report questionnaires to access the complexity and verbal and non-verbal expressions of attach-ment representations. Also, this study showed the relationship between attachment security and internaliz-ing/externalizing problems in middle childhood boys who have been less investigated in previous studies. Finally, this study suggested that insecure attachment in middle childhood boys has clinical implication in internalizing problems.