In this study I proposed and tested a causal model between disruptions in childhood attachment, dimensions of adult attachment, and caregiving in later life. The research was intended to fill a void in both the attachment and the gerontological caregiving literatures. Like the construct of attachment, John Bowlby conceptualized caregiving as an expression of a specific underlying behavioral control system. He and subsequent attachment theorists proposed caregiving quality to be the most critical determinant of both attachment and subsequent personality and emotional development. Gerontologists have studied caregiving from an exchange, equity, and symbolic interactionist perspectives but in general, theory has been underutilized and underdeveloped. This study provides an alternative theoretical perspective. With it’s multidisciplinary origins, attachment theory provides a framework for integrating research on seemingly disparate topics. An interdisciplinary linkage is begun by placing caregiving within the perspective of the lifespan development of prosocial behavior.

The sample (N=3,848) consisted of respondents aged 50 to 95 years, from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a national multistage probability sample. A series of regressions were used to test the explanatory model. Model variables included respondents’ psychosocial characteristics: sex, age, number of childhood separations from mother, current symbolic and physical proximity to mother, adult relationship with mother, emotional support, marital relationship, physical and mental disability, and income. In order to assess propensity for caregiving, the criterion variable was operationalized as number of care recipients per respondent.

The variables that accounted for a statistically significant amount of variation in caregiving were maternal proximity, and respondent's age, in that order. Contrary to the predictions, sex, emotional support, marital status, income, and disability level, were not related to caregiving. These findings suggest people may be motivated to provide care not simply by structural factors but by developmental needs with some underlying and unknown physiological component. These results warrant further study of how the dimensions of proximity to multiple attachment figures, and developmental age affect caregiving and attachment behaviors.