Parenting and attachment styles influence the temperament during infancy and toddler years. Parenting styles are strategies and techniques that parents use during child rearing. Attachment refers to a secure emotional connection, such as a union among a mother and child. Temperament is the nature of an individual in which affects behavior. Parenting and attachment work hand in hand with influencing the temperament of the child. Three types of children are form upon identifying the characteristics of their behavior; the easy child, the difficult child and the slow-to-warm-up child (Berk, 2010). The easy child embrace new experiences and form consistent schedules. The difficult child is challenged by new experiences and often display negative reactions. The slow-to-warm-up child shy away from routine and gradually envelope new experiences. These characteristics of the child ultimately express their social-emotional development, which is influenced by their initial interaction with parents and caregivers. In example, the easy child’s parents provides high levels of trust, encouraging the infant with feeling secure. In return, the child feels as though the world is trustworthy, making is easier to face new experiences. This dictates the behavior they express toward others. Parenting and forms of attachment play an essential role in both the temperament and social-emotional development of the child. Furthermore, an analysis of the affects that authoritative and permissive
In the article “ Child Rearing Styles”, author Diane E. Papalia and Sally Wendkos Olds persuades us that parents need to remember what their children bring to the family how child rearing practices can effectively help identify your child. The article discusses how basic temperament affects children at a young age. On rare occasions children are born with temperaments. Another behavioral influence is caused by the way parents treat their children.
Secondly, temperaments are behavioral profiles that are measureable and testable in a child’s early childhood as children are born with their natural style of interacting and reacting to people and the environment. However, it is not something that a child chooses from birth, it is rather shaped by a child’s experiences and responses. Often parents need to accept their child’s traits and adjust themselves to educate them. There are three constellations of temperament characteristic which are “easy”, children that are typically adaptable, “difficult”, children that tend to be intense and “slow-to-warm-up”, and children that are easily upset by change (Thomas & Chess, 1950). Children with different temperament .By identifying the proper discipline techniques, traits that are present from birth can be molded to continue to influence growth in essential ways throughout life.
Everyone has an attachment style from which they developed in the first two years of their life. This attachment style tends to stay consistent with each person throughout their lifetime and affects their social-emotional development, and thus relationships with other people. Attachment styles greatly affect the choice one makes in life partners, and how they parent their own children. It is important for everyone to gain insight on their own attachment style if they are to know their emotional limits and how to strengthen their flaws in order to develop a better-self and stronger relationships with other people (Norcross, 2011). It is even more so important for caregivers to be aware of their attachment style and how sensitively available they are to the children in their lives. How the primary caregiver responds to the child’s needs, determines the attachment style the child will acquire. To develop a secure attachment the child needs to establish confidence in a reliable caregiver. In this paper I will be talking about the behaviors and interactions that I observed while watching the film “Babies”, and what attachment styles may be formed as a result of those interactions.
What is the definition of attachment? If you look it up in a dictionary it explains that it is ‘an emotional bond between an infant or toddler and primary caregiver, a strong bond being vital for the child’s normal behavioural and social development’. That strong bond between infant and caregiver is believed to happen between the ages of 6-8 months although Bowlby (1958) suggests that the infants are born into this world pre-programmed to form attachments, they have innate behaviours in the way of crying, smiling, crawling and cooing which will stimulate attention and comforting responses from the caregivers. These behaviours are called social releasers. Kagan et al (1978)
One of the most important factors that affect child development is the relationship of the child with their primary caregiver. This is a tenet of developmental psychology known as attachment theory. John Bowlby, the creator of this theory, wanted to examine how early childhood experiences influence personality development. Attachment theory specifically examines infant’s reactions to being separated from their primary caregiver. Bowlby hypothesized that the differences in how children react to these situations demonstrates basic behavioral differences in infancy that will have consequences for later social and emotional development.
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.
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).
Families come in different shapes and sizes that make a system. Not a single family is perfect but they can have a healthy family system. When hearing the word healthy in general or in this case healthy family system it means things are going in a proper order and a balance. A balance in a healthy family system can look different in many ways and still be healthy. Think of a snowflake none of them are exactly the same so when asked what is a healthy family system looks like, we can say it is diverse and uniquely balance in its own way. Now there are some common factors that lead to a healthy family system. Types of attachment (bonds) styles and parenting styles have common grounds in each family. Also, there are unhealthy family systems that can impact the development of a child such as abuse.
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.
Securely attached infants have a good quality of relationship with their parents. In the strange situation, where parents leave their child alone or with a stranger in a room full of toys, these children are upset when their parents leave, but easily comforted when they return. The child uses the parent as a “secure base” from which to explore the environment. In the strange situation, insecure/resistant infants
In order for children to thrive, infants need to experience healthy nurturing relationships with their mother or caregiver. Nevertheless, without a mother infant attachment bond the growth and development of personality would be non-existent to the infant or child. For the explanation if attachment, family factors do play an imperative role for positive development in a mother infant attachment bond. Studies show that an individual who has a healthy relationship with parent s will have a positive or nurturing relationship with their peers (Richters & Walters, 1991). Individuals who are alienated growing up are more prone to the development of eating disorders or self-harm behaviors that had negative experiences growing up in a house hold with conflicts, or the lack of socialization skills (Richters & Walters, 1992).
In the first few months of life, the sole purpose of any child’s behaviour is to survive. This, more often than not, results in actions that reduce the risk of harm and increase the chances of longevity. Of these behaviours, some argue that the most influential is attachment behaviour. “Attachment behaviour is any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived as better able to cope with the world”(Bowlby, 1982). Therefore, children will make an effort to stay close to and under the protection of their primary caregiver. According to Webster, “through interactions with their primary caregiver, the child develops expectations and understandings about the workings of relationships. These mental representations of relationships become internalized to the degree that they influence feelings, thought and behaviour automatically and unconsciously” (1999, p.6). Moreover, the response of the identified individual plays a huge role in the child’s perception of the outside world. If the caregiver responds to the child’s needs in a caring and protective manner, the child will feel safe and comfortable in his or her surroundings. If, on the other hand, the caregiver is often emotionally and/or physically unavailable, the child is likely to
The infant’s temperament may partially stem from the way in which the mother handles the child. The child is affected by the way that they are treated even when they are infants.
A child’s interaction with caregivers can affect them for the rest of their lives. Attachment and parenting styles play a role in a child’s personality, social, and cognitive skills. It is important for adults to understand the severity of attachment and positive relationships with children.