Children Develop A Sense Of Attachment And Behavior Affected By A Disconnect With Their Parents Essay

From the moment of conception all humans have basic needs that must to be met in order to ensure their survival and well-being. Children, especially babies, are dependent on others to have these needs met. This combination of dependency and provision from caregivers creates an environment that promotes attachment. In this critical period of infancy, babies develop a form of attachment to their caregiver whether it be secure, ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized. The natural tendency of children to designate their parents as attachment figures causes them to want to be in close proximity to them at all times. When they are separated from their parents, babies will become distressed and cry until they are reunited; this is a display of separation

The importance of a healthy attachment in early childhood development can lead to a better adult development and skills for daily life. A secure and healthy attachment to the caregiver in infancy to adolescence showcases the importance of building strong relationships and coping skills during periods of stress and anxiety. The research that has been found, goes into detail about the different types of attachments that infants and children can develop as well as what negative and positive aspects come along with the attachments.

Mary Ainsworth is known for her ‘Strange Situation’ (Custance 2010) studies with children. Her theory was that the quality of an infant’s attachment depends largely on the kind of attention the infant has received. She observed the attachment styles of children, mostly aged between 12 and 24 months, by placing them in an environment and recording their reactions to their mothers (or primary caregivers) leaving the room and then returning. Based on these observations Ainsworth concluded that there are different types of attachment. Three types of attachment are: ‘anxious-avoidant’, where the child shows little upset with the stranger, but will avoid contact with the parent on their return. The ‘securely attached’ child is one that will show moderate levels of proximity seeking towards the parents and is upset by their departure but deals with the parents return positively, often returning to play. The third type is the ‘anxious-resistant’ child; greatly upset by the parent’s departure and on reunion seems angry and will not be comforted or picked up (Custance 2010).

In order to determine an infant’s attachment type, Ainsworth established an experimental study known as, “Strange Situation” (Berger, 2014, p.144). This study was an experiment off of Bowlby’s findings that suggest attachment “related behaviors, are activated in times of personal distress” (Bernier, Larose, & Whipple, 2005, p. 172). Therefore, within this study, an infant’s attachment was determined by studying their behavior and level of distress within a new environment at the absence or presence of their caregiver. Additionally, Bernier represents the results of Larose and Boivin’s 1998 study that express a possible correlation between “Strange Situation” and the transition from high school to college (Bernier et al., 2005, p. 173) as both

Attachment is the beginning of development for a healthy family system. Attachment or bonds are started very young they start with the parent and the child then it expands outward overdevelopment. There are four types of attachment styles avoidant, secure, ambivalent, and disorganized-disoriented. An attachment is a special bond and is usually positive between the child and usually the parents (Feldman, 2014, p.182). Out of the four attachments, secure attachment plays the most important in a healthy development of a child. Secure attachment is when a child and the caregiver such as the mother gives a secure foundation which the child feels like he/ she can explore the world around

Young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver in order for their social and emotional development to occur normally. Without this attachment, they will suffer serious psychological and social impairment. During the first two years, how the parents or caregivers respond to their infants, particularly during times of distress, establishes the types of patterns of attachment their children form. These patterns will go on to guide the child’s feelings, thoughts and expectations as an adult in future

Attachment serves the purpose of promoting closeness between infants with their adult caregivers who are responsible for comforting, nurturing and protecting them (Breidensteine, Bailey, Zeanah & Larrieu, 2011). Bowlby (1958) developed attachment theory to explain young children’s behaviours in ethological terms, positing that infants have developed an adaptive system directed towards their adult caregivers to elicit attention and care (Del Giudice, 2009). These biological driven behaviours, such as crying or clinging to a recognised and consistent caregiver

Children whose caregivers are consistently inaccessible or rejecting tend to develop a strategy of minimizing the output of attachment behavior (Main, l990). These avoidant children appear to have little need for the attachment figure and show little overt distress, although they are angered and made anxious by rejection. Children of inconsistently available caretakers develop a strategy of maximizing attachment behaviors, because they are fearful of the caregiver's potential inaccessibility (Main, 1990).

How an individual reacts and interprets everyday situations can be influenced by many different causes. Whereas these causes can range from individual to environmental in nature, the earliest of our preferences and relationships can go on to dictate our actions and beliefs. None of these are as important as the bond shared between a mother and child. As Mary Ainsworth once said “… [A] mothers ' behaviour appears to be the most important factor in establishing a secure or insecure attachment.” (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Isabella & Belsky, 1991, as cited in Martin, Carlson & Buskist, 2013). This essay will aim to discuss the consequences of secure and insecure attachments on intellectual, emotional and social child developmental. It will look briefly at children without their mother as their initial attachments, then it shall cover disorganised attachment. It shall then explain how attachment types suggest how children will react in social situations, their emotional well-being and how successful they are academically.

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.

One of these attachment styles was suggested to account for the majority of children and was depicted as a secure attachment style (Ainsworth, 1971, 1978). Secure attachment was suggested to account for 70% of the children, and consisted of traits that the child signified during the experiment, such as, responding with positively when their primary caregiver returned to them after a period of separation, despite the child signifying distress when the primary caregiver was absent (Ainsworth, 1971, 1978).The second type of attachment style Ainsworth (1971, 1978) established was an insecure attachment style; however, this was separated into two categories: anxious and avoidant. Whilst children who were categorised as having an anxious attachment style were suggested to account for 15% of children, and signified ambivalent behaviour towards their primary caregiver when they reunited with them, children who were suggested to have an avoidant attachment style accounted for 15% of children and avoided proximity or interaction with the primary caregiver on reunion Ainsworth (1971,

Ainsworth et al (1978) was the first to empirically classify an infant’s attachment style, through the use of a series of consecutive separations and reunions, with an infant and their primary caregiver. This experiment is known as the Strange Situation (Ainsworth et al., 1978) and aimed to illustrate what “attachment style” a child’s behaviour fell under, during these separations and reunions. The findings highlighted three main attachment styles. Securely attached (type A), the child is distressed during separation, however is easily comforted by care giver on reunion. Insecure Avoidant (type B), the child ignores or does not respond when reunited with care giver after separation. Anxious/ Ambivalent (type C) infant is not soothed by caregiver after during reunion after separation. Later a fourth attachment style was added by Main and Solomon (1986) disorganised (type D), the child shows no clear attachment behaviour. It is believed that from these attachment styles, disorders can

Theories abound in regards to parenting styles, attachments, bonds and the relationships that ensue. However, regardless of the theory, one subscribes to it has been noted that a child requires, warmth, security, and confidence to meet the demands of the world. Psychologists posit that how a child and their caregiver form an attachment has long-term ramifications on all the child’s relationships. The attachment formed with the primary caregiver provides the child with the expectations they will carry with them as they form new and lasting relationships. Meeting the needs of an infant/child can help to form secure attachments. Inconsistent responses will produce a child who has insecure attachments. This is seen when there is a delay in

An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy, thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, “indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a stranger, as by their parent” (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory, many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one’s self esteem, well-being and their marital relationship.

Having a child isn’t cheap as a young age between diapers, clothes, and bottles, to wasting millions of dollars as they get older to have a proper college education. In order to maintain the child in a healthy environment, one must provide the proper tools in order to receive it. If a parent is not financially stabled chances are the family will live in poverty, and due to the mother or father always working the infant attachment will decrease due to the parents not being around. As a result, the child will grow up differently since the people whom raised them aren’t around, and will lead to a negative path. A change in behavior can destroy the infant’s life as an adult knowing no one has ever taught them the right way to lived. As part of population research, Lewis and his colleagues ( Feiring, McGuffog, and Jaskir, 1984) reported that insecure attachment was related to behavior disorders at age 6 for boys but not girls. In addition, Erickson, Sroufe, and Egeland (1985) found that insecurely attached infants showed more observer-rated problem behaviors at age 41/2 than securely attached peers. However, in two studies (Bates, Maslin, & Frankel, 1985; Washington, Lojkasek, & Goldberg, 1986) attachment was unrelated to mother-reported behavior problems in the preschool period, whereas difficult temperament was associated with later problems. Although these