Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1995 Infant Attachment Security and Maternal Predictors of Early Behavior Problems: A Longitudinal Study of Low-Income Families Daniel S. Shaw 1,3 and Joan I. Vondra 2 In a longitudinal study of 100 low-income, mother-infant dyads, assessments of infant attachment security and maternal responsivity, involvement, depressive symptomatology, and perceived infant difficulty were used to predict later behavior problems at age 3. Attachment insecurity was related to behavior problems at age 3 when all insecure classifications were combined into one group and when insecurity was maintained at 12 and 18 months. For boys only, maternal depressive symptoms and low maternal involvement were associated with age 3 behavior problems. For girls, perceived difficult temperament at ages 1 and 2 were associated with later problem behavior. Externalizing behavior problems in childhood are important because of their direct cost to society in terms of damaged property and disruption of normal patterns of living, but also because of the difficulty in treating de- linquent youths and the possible emergence of later adult criminality (Kazdin, 1987; Loeber, 1982). Despite these costs and resistance to inter- vention, researchers have only recently begun to identify developmental Manuscript received in final form May 13, 1994. The authors are indebted to Richard Bell for reading drafts of the manuscript, and the many graduate and undergraduate staff members who assisted in data coUection. The study was supported by grants to Daniel Shaw and Joan Vondra from the following organizations within the University of Pittsburgh: the Mental Health Clinical Research Center for Affective Disorders, the Central Research Development Fund, the Office of Child Development, the School of Education in conjunction with the Buhl Foundation, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. 2Department of Psychology in Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. 3Address all correspondence, including requests for reprints, to Daniel Shaw, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology Center, Department of Psychology, 704 Old Engineering Hall, 4015 O'Hara Street, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. 335 0091-0627/95/0600-0335507.50/0 © 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporaüon