Italy

• Simonelli conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies. The researchers assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the SS. 50% of them were secure 36% insecure avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachment and higher rate of insecure avoidant attachment that has been found in many studies.
• The researchers suggest this is due to the increasing numbers of mothers of very young children working longer hours and using professional childcare. These findings suggest that patterns of attachment type aren’t static but vary in line with cultural change.