Attachment Problems

Research has revealed that there is a strong relationship between insecure attachment and a history of abuse and neglect (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010). Insecure attachments are formed due to parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior. Parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior form children’s mental schemas of how the world works based upon early interactions with caregivers. These mental schemas construct their expectations about relationships. Ultimately

When babies and children have poor attachments or relationships with adults, they are likely to find it hard to settle, to concentrate and enjoy being within their setting. If poor attachment exists between parents and children, children are more likely to show poor behaviour and concentration and this in turn affects their learning.

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

They are also more likely to have inadequate social skills, more hostile behavior, and trouble following the rules. Research suggests this occurs because children are stressed from the long hours, and because of the low quality of the daycare. (Berk, 2012) An important factor in preventing insecure attachment is attending a high quality daycare and good communication between the family and the daycare. Family circumstances play a huge role in attachment security. Parents must find a good balance between children, work, and stress to ensure their child has a healthy attachment. Families with excessive stress are more prone to attachment insecurity. Exposure to an insensitive or uncaring environment at home and in a daycare setting magnifies the chances of having an insecure attachment. (Berk, 2012) Children may have emotional issues when there is no attachment to one or more adults. Neglect and child abuse both contribute to insecure attachment. (Berk, 2012)

Development is an essential and mandatory constituent of human life that operates on multiple levels. It is a precise process, and there are a number of factors that affect its effectiveness. In particular, the development of a child is determinant of the adolescent behaviors, uniqueness and intelligence. Therefore, a considerable degree of weight is placed on the components that lead to the maturity of the child. In the development of a child, one of the key principles is called attachment. Just as safe attachment between the caregiver and the child can result in successful physical, mental and social development, vulnerable attachment can yield damaging consequences for the child in these areas (DeMulder, Denham, Schmidt, & Mitchell, 2000). Reactive attachment disorder is a likely outcome of unsafe attachment that eventually restricts the child’s capacity to emotionally and socially connect with other individuals, while destroying the cognitive ability as well (Crosson-Tower, 2013). This paper presents a detailed discussion on the attachment disorder in children and its impact on child development.

The attachment theory is an evolutionary, ethological, and psychological theory that gives people the explanatory/descriptive framework of understanding interpersonal relationship between people in society (Wikipedia). British psychologist/psychoanalyst, John Bowlby, stated that the importance of the theory that infants needed to develop a relationship with their main primary caregiver which would be beneficial for emotional and social development to progress normally for a child (McLeod). Bowlby’s idea of the theory was that when infants became attached to the adults who are more responsive/sensitive during the social interactions and form and maintained Caregiving relationship during the 6 months to 3 years of life (McLeod). This development

Aside from shaping behavior, attachment also helps in the development of the brain and the organization (Bettmann & Jasperson, 2010). There have been many studies that indicate that early life experiences are connected with a person’s emotional and physical health (Cozolino, 2017). Research has found that disruptions in early caregiver-child attachments can affect a child’s neurobiology (Bettmann & Jasperson, 2010). Based on my client’s early childhood attachments I believe that the insecure/avoidant attachment may have affected the success of her neurological development, therefore leading to physiological and neurochemical arousal that manifested in depression and anxiety symptoms (Bettmann & Jasperson, 2010).

The centre of the attachment theory is the parent and the child’s relationship. As the child realises who is caring for them they will rely on them to meet their needs. However, if their needs are not met their behaviour may change as an attempt to have their needs met. However, if their needs are not met their behaviour may change as an attempt to have them met. When a child sees their parent as controlling or disrespectful they will start to supress, their needs and feelings. A child may suffer from disorganised attachment because their carers movements are unpredictable due to drug or alcohol misuse. Poor attachment can affect the relationship they have

Ambivalent attachment leads to insecurities and clingy behavior. This is the result of a caregiver who is inconsistent with their level of care and response toward a child. One minute the caregiver is attentive to the child’s needs and the next they ignore them. In a way the child is sucked into the caring side of the caregiver and craves this response while being neglected. It causes the child to consistently seek reassurance and attention, but they will try to stay clear of attachment because they fear the outcome will be neglect. They do not feel like they have a reliable secure base or safe haven, this will make them

According to Psychology Today, attachment is key to social, emotional, cognitive, and personality development. It also affects all of the child’s relationships throughout his or her life. The attachment system provides the

Tharner, A., Luijk, M. P. C. M., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., … Tiemeier, H. (2012) Infant Attachment, Parenting Stress, and Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems at Age 3 Years. Parenting: Science and Practice, 12, 261-281.

The focus of attachment theory looks into how biological, neuropsychological, cognitive, and social factors highly affect child attachment and development. Bowlby started his clinical observations in the 1960s while working with maladjusted boys. There were two particular cases that strongly impacted his development of the theory. These two cases has one thing in common which was distressing relationships with their mothers. Bowlby believed that this was due to the early disruption in the child infant relationship. For an infant attachment appears to be more about the parent or mother’s proximity to the infant then their needs for sustenance. The proximity allows the child to

Attachment theory is a foundational concept that helps link my hunger for love and connection and the pain I feel wanting to attach and yet not feeling secure or nourished in attaching. Dan Siegel explores what happens when the child’s emotional needs were rejected from his primary caregivers and an avoidantly attached child

They also have a hard time with facial emotion processing. The children perceive people around them to be more negative or even hostile, and as a result can become aggressive themselves (Westrup, 2013). These are areas that are reported needing help during childhood and adolescence. These children often display problems with social interaction, they want to make friends but they lack the skills to form a friendship (Blackburn & Whitehurst, 2010). Family system theory assumes that emotional and behavioral problems are continued through patterns of interaction contained by the family (Rogers-Adkinson & Stuart, 2007). Since the children can have sensory processing difficulties, they might not respond well to self-regulation, such as when a mother tries to hug her child to help them calm down (Westrup, 2013).

Attachment theory is a concept that explores the importance of attachment in respect to direct development. “It is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space” (Bowlby, 1969; McLeod, 2009). It is the relationship that develops within the first year of the infant’s life between them and their caregiver. The theory also relates to the quality of the attachment that is shown in the behavior of the infant (Rieser-Danner, 2016). Attachment theory shows that infants need a close nurturing relationship with their caregiver in order to have a healthy relationship. Lack of response from the caregiver