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Maternal Secure Attachment Level to a One-Year-Old Child3

Maternal Secure Attachment Level to a One-Year-Old Child Test

With 20 yes-or-no questions completed in about 4 minutes, the Maternal Secure Attachment Level to a One-Year-Old Child Test explores how a mother responds to her one-year-old’s needs, autonomy, emotions, and individuality. Results outline patterns of support, sensitivity, acceptance, and responsiveness, offering a focused starting point for reflection on the parent-child relationship.

Questions: 204 minutes

Maternal Secure Attachment Level: sample question card

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

2,199 likes

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Support/IgnoringS

This scale measures how consistently a mother provides emotional support to her child during challenging moments versus leaving the child to cope alone.

example score2/5

2/5Moderate supportexample score

0 – 1Low support

2 – 3Moderate support

4 – 5High support

A score of 2 indicates a moderate level of support, suggesting the mother sometimes offers comfort and help in difficult situations but may not do so consistently.

Responsiveness/IntrusivenessR

Measures how respectfully the mother supports the child’s initiative and independence while avoiding overly controlling intervention.

example score4/5

4/5Supportive responsivenessexample score

0 – 1Intrusive/overcontrolling

2 – 3Mixed responsiveness

4 – 5Supportive responsiveness

A score of 4 indicates generally supportive, timely involvement that respects the child’s individuality and allows initiative without excessive interference.

Acceptance/RejectionA

Measures how much the mother accepts the child as they are and perceives the child as significant to her expectations and feelings.

example score2/5

2/5Mixed acceptanceexample score

0 – 1Lower acceptance

2 – 3Mixed acceptance

4 – 5High acceptance

A score of 2 falls in the Mixed acceptance range, suggesting acceptance is present but may be inconsistent or more conditional in some situations.

Sensitivity/InsensitivityS

Measures how well a mother notices her child’s signals, understands the underlying needs, and responds in an appropriate, timely way.

example score2/5

2/5Moderate sensitivityexample score

0 – 1Low sensitivity

2 – 3Moderate sensitivity

4 – 5High sensitivity

A score of 2 suggests a moderate level of sensitivity, with some accurate responses to the child’s cues but inconsistencies in noticing or interpreting needs across situations.

Maternal Attachment LevelMAL

Measures the overall strength and security of a mother’s attachment to her 1-year-old, reflecting sensitivity, acceptance, supportive involvement, and respect for the child’s autonomy.

example score14/20

14/20Mediumexample score

0 – 12Low

13 – 16Medium

17 – 20High

A score of 14 falls in the Medium range, suggesting the mother typically shows sensitivity and acceptance with generally supportive involvement, though these qualities may not be fully consistent across situations.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

New mothers seeking reassurance

46%OF USERS

Mothers of 0–1-year-olds who want to check how secure their bond feels and spot small areas to strengthen in everyday interactions.

Mothers facing bonding challenges

33%OF USERS

Mothers experiencing stress, postpartum mood symptoms, or a hard first year who want clarity about sensitivity, acceptance, and responsiveness with their baby.

Perinatal and child specialists

21%OF USERS

Psychologists, family therapists, and early development professionals who use a quick screening to guide counseling and early intervention plans.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Support/IgnoreS

You?

Average1.6

Typical rangeTypical0.9 – 2.3

Possible0 – 5

Responsiveness/InterventionR

You?

Average1.3

Typical rangeTypical0.6 – 2

Possible0 – 5

Acceptance/RejectionA

You?

Average1.4

Typical rangeTypical0.6 – 2.2

Possible0 – 5

Sensitivity/InsensitivityS

You?

Average3.2

Typical rangeTypical2.6 – 3.8

Possible0 – 5

Level of Maternal AttachmentLoMA

You?

Average12.5

Typical rangeTypical10.1 – 14.9

Possible0 – 20

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Dear Mother, please read each statement carefully and select the response option that best reflects your behavior: “Yes” if you more often think and act in this way, and “No” if you hold a different view and behave differently.

- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No

These are 3 of the 20 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Maternal Secure Attachment Level to a One-Year-Old Child Test - Description and methodology of the test

motherhood

attachment

family

For mothers reflecting on everyday caregiving, the Maternal Secure Attachment Level to a One-Year-Old Child Test offers a structured way to consider recurring caregiving concerns and decide which patterns merit closer reflection. This maternal attachment assessment organizes the questionnaire's result into several dimensions, helping mothers and other caregivers reflect on those concerns without reducing them to a single judgment. Its multidimensional result gives the respondent a focused profile for self-reflection.

What This Assessment Explores

Items cover crying, needs, independence, behavior, and development. The resulting mother-child attachment profile displays these patterns.

Dimensions include:

Support/Ignoring (0-5) measures support versus leaving the child alone: Low support 0-1; Moderate support 2-3; High support 4-5.
Responsiveness/Intrusiveness (0-5) measures autonomy, individuality, and supported initiative: Intrusive/overcontrolling 0-1; Mixed responsiveness 2-3; Supportive responsiveness 4-5.
Acceptance/Rejection (0-5) measures acceptance and significance: Lower acceptance 0-1; Mixed acceptance 2-3; High acceptance 4-5.
Sensitivity/Insensitivity (0-5) measures understanding of needs and perspective: Low sensitivity 0-1; Moderate sensitivity 2-3; High sensitivity 4-5.
Maternal Attachment Level (0-20) summarizes qualities: Low 0-12, formal or socially desirable; Medium 13-16, present in most situations; High 17-20, consistent sensitivity and acceptance; deprivation reflects lack of support and neglect.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Each statement presents a caregiving belief or situation and invites a Yes or No response. The items address comforting distress, noticing cues, supporting independence, directing behavior, parental expectations, and reactions to developmental timing. Responses are grouped into the displayed dimensions and summarized by the overall level; the questionnaire does not specify item weights or a scoring key, so points should not be inferred from the score ranges.

The conceptual anchor is the Ainsworth Maternal Sensitivity Scales (1969), which emphasize recognizing infant signals, interpreting them accurately, and responding appropriately. The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that work and with Ainsworth's attachment framework in the 1978 and 1979 publications.

The online questionnaire functions as a maternal sensitivity test distinct from those published scales. Mood, memory, social desirability, and relationship context may shape responses, so the result is best read as a structured snapshot of current caregiving patterns.

Author: Everett Waters, Mary D. Ainsworth

Literature:

Ainsworth, Mary D. (1969). Maternal Sensitivity Scales: The Baltimore Longitudinal Project. Mimeograph, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
Ainsworth, Mary D. Salter, Blehar, Mary C., Waters, Everett, and Wall, Sally. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 10.4324/9781315802428
Ainsworth, Mary D. Salter. (1979). Infant-mother attachment. American Psychologist, 34(10), 932-937. 10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.932

Updated: 2025-10-02