Childhood Attachment Disorders And Its Effects On The Developing Brain

When a person becomes a parent, their role in life undoubtedly changes. The person must become a teacher, a guide, and a helping hand in the life of the child. Research has shown that there is a distinct connection between how a child is raised and their overall developmental outcome. John Bowlby’s attachment theory emphasizes the importance of the regular and sustained contact between the parent-infant or parent-child relationship (Travis & Waul 2003). Yet, what happens when the only physical contact a child can share with their parent is a hand pressed on the shield of glass that separates the two? What happens when the last memory of their mother or father was from the corner of their own living room as they watched their parent

Broderick and Blewitt (2015) stated, John Bowlby and Erik Erikson “proposed that the relationships that an infant has with one or a few caregivers during the first year of life provide him with a working model of himself and of others” (p. 133). Attachment theory plays a large role in cognitive and emotional development because it sets a foundation for the child. A case study of Angela, a 17-year-old mother, and her 11 month-old son, will dive into the attachment relationship between the two and extenuating circumstances surrounding that attachment. Angela is attempting to raise her son under the roof of her mother; who doesn’t support a paternal relationship for Adam. Angela’s attachment relationship with her son is an example of intergenerational transmission of attachment due to her attachment style with her own mother. Studies have shown positive and negative influences of teen mothers living in a home supervised by an adult, concerns with maternal attachment leading to disruptive behaviors, young children being untrusting of a mother due to an insecure attachment, and potential interventions to support a positive attachment relationship.

In the earliest stages of development, emotions are diffuse and infants have little control over their behavioral expression, relying instead on the dyadic regulation provided by their caregivers’ responses to behavioral signals. Attachment disorders form in infancy and early childhood as a result of instability in the child-caregiver relationship. Attachment-disordered children typically have experienced abusive or neglectful care, multiple changes between caregivers and environments, or the sudden loss of a parent or parents.

Corbin (2007) describes reactive attachment disorder as a biopsychosocial disturbance of attachment. There is interconnectedness between the brain and body which helps explain the development of relationships. Reactive attachment disorder has been known to be caused by a primary caregiver’s lack of affection where, in turn, the infant or child experience neglect or abuse, difficulty coping, inability to function in families, at school or with peers (Taylor, 2002; Wimmer, Vonk, & Bordnick, 2009; Becker-Weidman, 2006 ). In a recent case study, a child diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder had a background of their biological parent being a cocaine and an alcohol addict, therefore, causing the child to exhibit symptoms such as demanding behavior, social isolation, lying, lack of cause and affect reasoning, and non-engaging and unaffectionate with adopted parents.

According to modern attachment theory, a “good enough” mother needs to be psychobiologically attuned with her infant in order to co-regulate the shifts in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and Automatic Nervous System (ANS) that the infant will experience (J. Schore & A. Schore, 2012). The mother’s ability to co-regulate the infant through the mother-infant affect synchrony, meaning the process of attunement, misattunement, and re-attunement will ultimately determine the child’s attachment style and if the child will be resilient as well as if the child will be able to self-regulate (J. Schore & A. Schore, 2012). A mother does not need to be perfectly attuned with her infant’s needs because moments of misattument that consist of mild to moderate stress followed be re-attunement are necessary in order to help foster the child’s resiliency (Mulligan, 2014a). However, during a moment of misattunement, the mother needs to re-attune with the infant in an appropriate amount of time in order to ensure that the child becomes

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)

Although secure attachment during infancy is the foundation for continued healthy positive development during the lifespan, it is important to understand that other factors can have a significant effect on development later in life (i.e. illness, loss, and trauma). However, research has shown the importance of consistent care giving that is responsive and nurturing and the caregivers’ ability to effectively accommodate more difficult temperament characteristics ,as well as other factors, influence the development of healthy attachment{{64 Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian 2003}}. Research has also shown that infancy and early childhood is the period of development where scaffolding begins and continues (Vygotsky, 1978; Zhao & Orey,1999).

By admitting infants diagnosed with neonatal hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels in infants) into the Kennestone Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), infants are not in close proximity of their mothers. In addition to interrupting breast feeding, this disturbance in the mother-infant bonding creates separation anxiety for the infants leading them to being anxious-resistant or avoidant (insecure attachment patterns where infants are extremely distressed or unaffected by the separation respectively) in the strange situation, which is “a laboratory paradigm for studying infant-parent attachment” (Fraley, 2010).  Obtaining an insecure attachment pattern, instead of a secure attachment pattern (infants who seek for parental attention), impacts “multiple domains, such as emotional processing and executive functions” (Escobar et al., 2013, pg. 1).  In addition, insecure attachments correlate with “reduced attention to angry faces, which can reflect a failure to notice threatening stimuli” (Escobar et al., 2013).  Avoidance of disturbances between the mother-infant bond aids in

Attachment theory came about by reknowned psychologist Bowlby in 1958 (Bretherton, 1992). This prestigious discovery explores the effects of relationship between a primary caregiver and an infant’s neural pattern of attachment and emotional regulation behaviors. An infant that securely attaches with a primary caregiver has more implications to grow into a more securely attached or stable adult with similar securely attached relationships. This is seen as learned adaptive emotional regulation. On the other hand, Bowlby speculates how the insecurely attached infant will grow into maladaptive emotional regulation behaviors (Caspers, 2006). The insecurely attached or maladaptive behaviors are potentially seen as precursory to addiction behaviors

Attachment, nurturing, and socialization is the foundation that holds together any family. However, substance use disorders (SUDs) impact individuals and their family members which requires a great deal of responsiveness at the very start of the disorder. Whether it’s directly or indirectly, everyone in the family is affected by the individual that abuses the substance. The family member(s) can be affected by the individual through developmental, emotional, attachment, and violence. Approximately, 3 million reports of child abuse are reported every year and of that 899,000 are reported victims due to substance abuse. Children are a product of their environment and in many cases they are at risk of becoming the abuser themselves.

Attachment is a term used to describe the dependency relationship a child develops towards his or her primary caregivers. It is first observable during the latter half of the first year of life and develops progressively over the first four years of life. It is most readily observed in the behavior of children when they are sick, injured, tired, anxious, hungry or thirsty. Although early attachment research focused on the mother and infant, it is now generally accepted that children develop multiple attachment relationships. An ‘attachment figure’ is defined as someone who provides physical and emotional care has continuity and consistency in the child’s life, and who has an emotional investment in the child’s life. This can include parents (biological, foster, adopted), grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and alternate caregivers (e.g. child-care workers). Given that children are able to form multiple attachments, the question has been asked as to which attachment relationship is most influential on children’s developmental outcomes.

The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the

The course of reactive attachment disorder is not well studied, but through reviewing literature, it is evident that a larger amount of individuals diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder are children who have experienced serious forms of neglect or abuse, or have been brought up in institutional settings, and consequently exhibit signs of reactive attachment disorder (Boris & Zeanah, 2005). The prevalence of reactive attachment disorder that has been studied in the general population was found to be prevailing in 1.4%. Being that this is a relatively higher number found within the general population, it is crucial to understand the additional needs of these children (Pritchett, Pritchett, Marshall, Davidson, & Minnis, 2013).

By responding with care and comfort, this enables for an “attachment bond” to form between the infant and caregiver, most commonly the mother (White et al., 2013). Following on from Bowlby’s theory, Mary Ainsworth investigated the theory of attachment through observing the reactions of infants when their mothers left them alone with strangers. The investigation was named as the “Ainsworth’s strange situation assessment” (White et al., 2013). It was discovered through this investigation that infants who had secure attachments with their mothers were upset when separated and were easily soothed when the mother returns. This investigation implies that infants with secure attachment to their mothers show signs of normal social development.

Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in