Young children’s preferences for their mothers: Concurrent predictors and correlates

A basic tenet of Attachment Theory describes a species-wide tendency to search out an attachment figure in times of distress. Expectations of support, or lack thereof, may provide a template for socioemotional functioning. This study investigated potential concurrent predictors (i.e. time spent with one’s mother and parenting style) and socioemotional correlates of children’s verbally expressed preferences for their mothers (i.e. maternal preference) during hypothetical attachment- and affiliation-related situations in 185 Southeast Asian children aged 3–6 years (95 boys). Though children in the current study were cared for by several caregivers, results here suggest they nevertheless prefer their mothers. Maternal time spent did not significantly predict preferences. However, authoritative parenting style scores did. Maternal preferences predicted higher child prosocial, but not problematic behavior. Implications for future work discerning the role of mothers in children’s lives are discussed. Copyright © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.