Attachment Theory And Children Of Divorce

Children of divorce are numerous, the effects of their biological parents separation and subsequent divorce has lasting effects on their behavior, academics, and their emotions. No one seems to care about the prevalence of divorce in society today; it is no longer considered taboo.

Attachment theory, put forth by John Bowlby, is in agreement with Freudian psychoanalytic theory in that our early experiences with caregivers shape our adult ability to love. In contrast to psychoanalytic theory, attachment theory focuses on what Bowlby called the attachment response (Belsky, 2013, p. 15-16). Basically, we are genetically pre-programmed to form attachments with others because this will help us survive (McLeod, 2007). Bowlby believed in monotropy, which is an attachment conceptualized as being a vital and close bond with just one attachment figure, typically the mother. This attachment to the mother is the most important and if it is broken or disrupted during the critical two-year period the child will suffer irreversible long-term consequences of this maternal deprivation. This risk continues until the age of 5 (McLeod, 2007). So, based on this, a child who is 4 or 5 and whose parents are going through a divorce may experience a disrupted attachment to the mother due to diminished or incompetent parenting. Long-term consequences of maternal deprivation might include delinquency, reduced intelligence, increased aggression, depression and affectionless psychopathy. Attachment theory, just as in

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). Likewise, attachment theory is a psychological model that seeks to illustrate the dynamics of both long term and short- term interpersonal relationships (Waters, E.; Corcoran, D.; Anafarta, M. 2005). Additionally, attachment theory address how people respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or when they perceive a threat (Waters et al., 2005). Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). The theory predominantly draws on the ideas from doctrines such as, ethology, cybernetics, information processing and developmental psychology (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). It is considered that attachment theory has revolutionized the way society thinks about the relationship between the mother and her child and the importance of

The key research question in this study is what are the long term effects of parental divorce on a child’s relationship between their parents and their siblings? They took into consideration variables such as age of divorce, gender, and living arrangements so they can see what influence they may have on the present study results and compare it with previous studies. They gave 3 different surveys to 102 students with married parents and 107 students with divorced parents to be able to observe the differences in relationships between the two types of families. Some of the key findings of this study are that females actually have better adult relationships with their siblings and that divorce caused the children to have better relationships with their mother, and worse relationships with their father. They noted that the age when their parents got divorced was not a variable that affected whether or not they had a good relationship with their siblings. For the relationship between their mothers, it was better unless there was a variable of pre-divorce or post-divorce conflict between them. For their fathers, it showed that daughters had worse relationships with their fathers compared to sons. Living arrangements showed effects for both of the parents depending on which parent they lived with. When it comes to remarriage, it had a positive affect on mother-child relationship when the father got remarried and no affect when the mother was remarried.

Attachment styles influence relational patterns between a married couple and their children. These attachment relational patterns known as anxious, avoidant, and secure base styles are a product of the interactions experienced in early childhood with their caregivers. It affects people’s intercommunication with others all through their life span. Individuals’ attachment style involves a systematic pattern of relational assumptions, emotions, and behavior that develop from the subjective constructs definitive of attachment experiences throughout their lives. Negative relational patterns increase the likelihood of marital violence in the home. When experiencing stress related life issues, conflicts may arise due to substandard communication skills leading to physical violence, aggressiveness, resulting in harsh spousal disputes. A positive upswing in marital and family harmony occurs when healthy communication skills develop along with secure based attachment characteristics, such as, humility, gratitude, and forgiveness of self and others. These characteristics provide coping mechanisms that establish a positive self-identity and healthy social interaction with others. As the anxious and avoidant relational styles exercise these positive characteristics, in time, they develop a positive view of self and others while learning to work through life stressors, which benefit the marriage and family.

Attachment theory was originally proposed by Bowlby (1969) as an explanation of interpersonal relationships, with particular focus in his work on the parent-child relationships which are formed in early childhood. He noted that this was an evolutionary need within us as humans to form close attachments to improve our rate of survival (Bowlby, 1969). He later also theorized that these attachment styles would persist throughout life into adulthood (Bowlby, 1988). Further work on attachment theory by Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991) expanded on attachment styles and looked at the continuation of attachment style into adulthood. Using interviews with participants and the participants close friends they found evidence for four types of adult attachment styles: Secure, Preoccupied, Dismissing and Fearful (Bartholomew & Horowitz 1991). Further support for adult attachments styles is from Mikulincer & Shaver (2004) showing that attachments styles persist from childhood into adulthood demonstrating bowlby 's later hypothesis

As an aspiring professional counselor, it is important to have a solid understanding of the growth and development of children can be affected by attachment to primary caregivers within the first years of life. Attachment theory, which was developed by Erikson and Bowling, describes how the first year of interactions with caregivers serves as model, which heavily influences how children navigate in the world, even into adulthood (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). In this week’s assignment, we are challenged to think through the implications of attachment theory as it relates to children who are adopted and children who are raised by their biological parent(s). With the help of various research articles, textbook readings, and case studies, I

According to Marquart (2006), “after a divorce the job of making sense of the two worlds and the conflicts that arise between them doesn’t go away—it gets handed from the adults to the children(p. 215). When living with one parent a child may develop a sense of confusion when it comes to the family hierarchy because of the loss of one or more of the leader figures in the household (Kumar, 2011). Loss of one of the family incomes and

Research has also been done to determine whether there is a connection between parental divorce and attachment disorders in children. A study conducted by Altenhofen, Sutherland, & Biringen (2010) examined the characteristics that contribute to postdivorce child attachment. The sample consisted of 24 mothers and their children. Attachment was determined using Waters’ Attachment Q-Set (AQS). Characteristics like age at the start of overnight stays, parental discord and emotional availability were assessed for their significance in attachment security. Although all of the study variables did not predict attachment

Pitch perfect is a modern comedic musical, which follows the journey of one college girl, Beca, through her membership of an all-girls acapella group. Through her experiences in acapella, she meets a man, Jesse, who is in their rival acapella group, and they exhibit an initial attraction towards each other. In this scene, Beca displays playful fighting and touching with Jesse with obvious signs of affection and gratitude for bailing her out jail. However, this emotion suddenly switches when she finds out he did not bail her out, he called her dad to. Beca became very defensive and independent once she knew her dad was there. Her severe very negative reaction

Through out this discussion the reader has seen the effects of divorce on children. These effects are primarily shown in three areas of the childrens lives. These three areas are emotionally, physically, and

Even with having a better attachment before such dramatic life event during adolescence could affect the person's existing attachments because the parents are the primary caregivers of the child and everything they trust and believe might fall right in front of them with the parent’s separation. Bowlby and Robertson believed that if a child has a strong attachment with his or her primary caregiver then a small separation could lead them to

The attachment theory demonstrates how relationships are influenced by the availability and responsiveness of a caregiver (Afifi, et al, 2015). Velez, Wolchik, Tein, and Sandler (2011) provide support that shows that factors such as parental warmth, acceptance, and support are important between child and parent relationships. Attachment is important because it is the emotional bond between the child and parent. When conflict arises between parents the children also feel the affects of the conflict. The stress of the divorce can change the attitude and mood of the parent causing the relationship and bond between parent and child to change.

People can and do get the [attachment] theory confused with attachment parenting. The result of this may be that some parents, thinking that attachment parenting is too consuming and also because western society has a need for independence and separation, may then look for alternative methods that do not involve any form of attachment “methods”. The purpose of researching these theories is to gather information about attachment theory for those involved to make informed decisions that do not involve a specific parenting philosophy that may not suit their family’s needs.

In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many