From Mother–Child Attachment Security in Toddlerhood to Moral Reasoning in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Child Temperamental Fearfulness

ABSTRACT Several studies suggest that parent–child relationship quality interacts with child fearful temperament in predicting early stages of moral development. However, less is known about these interactive effects in relation to developmentally advanced moral constructs that are salient in adolescence, such as moral reasoning. This longitudinal study examined the prospective association between mother–child attachment security in early childhood and moral reasoning in adolescence, and whether this association was moderated by child temperamental fearfulness. The sample consisted of 93 Canadian mother–child dyads. When children were aged 15 and 25 months, mother–child attachment security was assessed using an observational measure at home. Mothers reported on children's temperamental fearfulness when they were aged 3 years. When participants were aged 16 years, their moral reasoning was assessed using a visual task presenting everyday socio‐moral conflicts. A moderation analysis conducted in a structural equation modeling framework suggested that mother–child attachment security predicted more mature moral reasoning. Furthermore, a significant interaction was found, revealing that the association between mother–child attachment security and adolescent moral reasoning was positive and significant at low and mean levels of child fearfulness, but not at high levels. Consistent with a dual‐risk pattern, the adolescents who showed the least mature moral reasoning were those who, as toddlers, had the most insecure attachments to their mother and the least fearful temperaments. These findings highlight that secure mother–child attachment in toddlerhood has implications for moral reasoning into adolescence and in particular, could protect temperamentally fearless children against poor moral development.