Rejection From One Caregiver At An Early Age

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

It is the primary caregiver who the child first begins to develop these intra- and interpersonal processes with. Future success of social-emotional development in children, is dependent upon the “the presence of caregiver-child relationships,” and the consistent, reliable, and empathic, positive serve and return of the caregiver (Briggs, Silver, Krug, Mason, Schrag, et al, 2014). Caregivers who have experienced childhood trauma, have a decreased ability to provide this type of interaction. Therefore, a child’s social-emotional development is at risk. Due to the caregiver’s traumatic history, they may have an inability to effectively interpret a child’s emotional state, and they may inappropriately respond to a child’s attempt for interaction. This caregiver may respond by using negative parenting practices including severe physical and psychological aggression, or neglectful behaviors (Briggs et al.). Thus, through inadequate parenting techniques, caregivers continue the intergenerational cycle (Brigs et

The representations of attachment disorder in children include such thoughts as: “I am bad and unlovable,” “my caregiver will not protect me from traumatic experiences,” and I am not able to get my caregiver to “respond consistently to my needs”. These children view their caregivers as unreliable, unresponsive, rejecting, and threatening. They should be responded to with empathy and calm as a means to reduce their arousal, as opposed to anger and discipline which can heighten the adverse physiological and behavioral outcomes the child is experiencing.

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

Abandonment indicates a parent’s choice to have no part in his or her offspring’s life. This includes failure to support the child financially and emotionally, as well as failure to develop a relationship with his or her child. Sadly, parental abandonment leaves a child with doubt and uncertainty about the future. Throughout his or her life, this particular child could suffer from lasting questions of self-worth. In the opposite direction, the child could learn to resent his or her parents and remain incapable of trusting anyone. Regardless, intentional negligence of children leaves them with an unbearable pain that they must carry around for the rest of their lives. Child-care and the consequences

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) was first introduced just over 20 years ago, with the publication of DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). In the DSM-IV. The disorder is defined by aberrant social behavior that appears in early childhood and is evident cross contextually(1994). The disorder describes aberrant social behaviors in young children that are believed to derive from being reared in caregiving environments lacking species-typical nurturance and stimulation, such as in instances such as maltreatment or institutional rearing. (First, M., & Tasman, A. 2010) . In cases of RAD two major types of abnormalities have been cited; these include an emotionally withdrawn/inhibited type and an indiscriminately social/disinhibited pattern (First, M., & Tasman, A. 2010).Conditions in in foreign orphanages and institutions such as, multiple caregivers, maltreatment, abuse, neglect, and others contribute to the inability for internationally adopted children to form secure attachments. All of these factors contribute to internationally adopted children being at a higher risk to develop attachment disorders such as RAD and other behavioral problems.

The Strange Situation is meant to be a snapshot of the relationship between infant and caregiver, and provide insight into the dyadic patterns that define this bond. Securely attached children are thought to have a primary caregiver who is sensitive, available and receptive to their infants needs. Insecure-avoidant children have primary caregivers who are intrusive, controlling and hurtful. These caregivers may be present in the infant’s life but unable to understand their infants needs, and provide the correct response. Caregivers of insecure-ambivalent infants have been found to be unresponsive to the needs of the infant, and very often unavailable. The effect of this treatment is that the infant is starved for affection and attention. The infant also feels the need to amplify their needs in an effort to reach their caregiver (Barnett & Vondra, 1999).

David is currently “of time” with his psychological development. When looking at psychological development it is important to understand the attachment history of the child. Davies (2011) states that a preschooler who appears to have had a secure attachment history will turn to adults for support when they are in distress believing that they will receive the help that they need. However a preschooler who appears to have had an avoidant attachment history will not turn to an adult for help when distress, believing that others cannot be relied upon for support (Davies, 2011). It is evident that David has an attachment history of avoidant or insecure attachment. David struggles to rely on his foster parents for support when distressed, as evident

The decision of the John Smith’s father to abandon his son impacted many aspects of his life but the one that was most clearly impacted was his attachment process. The experience of father abandonment during infancy disrupted John’s development of secure attachment. John’s mother reports that due to the increased pressure of having to raise three children on her own, she was not always emotionally available to care be attentive to her children’s emotional needs. At the time of his infancy John’s mother was constantly working in an effort to provide for three children. Because of this John’s mother was not there to be consistently attentive to John’s needs. If John’s father was present to help contribute financially and assist with family

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

In the Newman, Newman book two types of expressions are defined, emotional withdrawn/inhibited type and indiscriminately social/uninhibited type. These expressions were defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV. In the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5), reactive attachment disorder is found under the Trauma-and Stress-related disorders section. The two expressions are now categorized as distinct disorders, reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder. Both of these disorders are the result of social neglect or other situations that limit a young child’s opportunity to form selective attachments. Although sharing this etiological pathway, the two disorders differ in important ways. Because of dampened positive affect, reactive attachment disorder more closely resembles internalizing disorders; it is essentially equivalent to a lack of or incompletely formed preferred attachments to caregiving adults. In contrast, disinhibited social engagement disorder more closely resembles ADHD; it may occur in children who do not necessarily lack attachments and may have established or even secure attachments (American Psychiatric Association,

These feelings of inadequacy can cause parents to unconsciously withdraw fromtheir children, which can lead the child to feel rejected and result in an insecure attachment style.

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.

Looking into current study hypotheses, the result revealed that for first hypothesis, perceived father rejection is a more significant predictor of adults’ psychological adjustment than perceived mother rejection. This result is consistent with current study’s hypothesis. For the second hypothesis, the results showed that there were some gender differences in male and female perception of father and mother rejection on their psychological adjustment, which partially supports current study hypothesis.

Facilitating Developmental Attachment: The Road to Emotional Recovery and Behavioral Change in Foster and Adopted Children by Daniel A Hughes