Bridging Attachment Theory and Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory in the Situation Situation Procedure in Egypt

This study is the first to explore the appropriateness of the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) in Egyptian culture through Attachment Theory’s universality and normativity hypotheses. The study is also the first to explore the relation between children’s attachment classifications assessed by Mary Ainsworth’s SSP protocol and mothers’ behaviors of acceptance-rejection from the lens of Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory). It was therefore conducted as a pilot study, with a sample consisting of 23 mother-child dyads who took part in the SSP. The mean age of children in the SSP was 18.6 months (SD = 3.10). Mothers’ acceptance-rejection behaviors were explored through the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (PARQ/Control). The pilot study’s findings indicated that there is a significant correlation between maternal acceptance-rejection behaviors and the child’s attachment classification. The findings also indicated that mothers tended to show a higher level of hostility/aggression, undifferentiated rejection, and control with their daughters more than sons. Since 56.5% of the observations took place during peak Covid-19, strangers wore a mask during these observations. Within the remaining 43.5% of observations, strangers did not wear a mask, differences in attachment behaviors of children within these two groups are discussed.