The Relationship Between Attachment And Child Development

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)

Chapter six in the book Disorders of Childhood Development and Psychopathology, authored by Parritz and Tory, points out that one of the most important accomplishments for caregivers and infants in the first year of life is developing a strong attachment relationship. During that time that baby should begin to gain a sense of self, others, and the world around them. Babies gain a secure attachment when their needs are consistently meet, they feel love, affection and from their caregiver, and they safe in their environment. From an evolutionary standpoint, attachments between a baby and his caregiver were necessary for survival. Besides a secure attachment there are three other types of attachments.

Bowlby said that early attachment was crucial to a child’s healthy mental development & this is a key part for how they build relationships later on in life. He said that children are influenced the most by the relationship with their primary carer (mainly mother). For the 1st 6 months of a babies life they have a need to attach to one main person. This is called the monotropic attachment. He also said that a child should be cared for by the same person for the first 2 years of their life as any kind of disruption would lead to lasting effects of their development. E.g. depression & antisocial behaviour. He then changes what he said and stated that children were capable of forming multiple attachments and it was important for them to build

John Bowlby’s work in attachment has been the foundation when determining the attcahments and bonds that a child and parent may experience (Webb, 2011). According to Bowlby, “attachment” is referring to a lasting, mutual bond of affection that is dependent on an individual or more than one person (Webb, 2011). Establishing a secure attachment during infancy and early childhood is an important task of a parent or a caregiver. Not all parents or caregivers can provide their child with a secure attachment at this important in life due to various reasons. Since parents are the main providers in their child’s development of attachment, their lives and history has a great influence on their children’s lives.

John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth 's attachment theories derive from the idea that in early development infants develop different attachment behaviors in relation to their caregivers. This emotional bond between an infant and their parents can have an enduring impact on future relationships throughout an individual 's life. Research has shown that there does not have to be a biological component for an infant to bond with a parent. Instead the bond or attachment is related to “quality and quantity” of interaction between parent and child. (Boyd, & Bee, p. 130)

At a certain age infants begin to resist the unfamiliar and are very vocal in expressing their feelings (Brazelton, 1992).

Unlike in adults where attachment bonds may be reciprocal in characteristics, the bond between infants and the caregiver is mainly based the child's need for security, care, and protection. There is a chronological way in which attachment bonds develop and manifest themselves in a child as the child advances in age. In the first six months of a child life, pre-attachment behaviours and trends are observed in a child. In this phase, the infant cries and smiles to attract the attention of potential caregivers who they have not yet been able to discriminate or rank. In this stage, anyone in the vicinity is a potential caregiver for the child. The second phase of a child attachment development occurs between the ages of two months to the age of six months. In this phase, the child develops a discriminative instinct, and he or she is able to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar adults. The child response toward the caregivers increased at this stage and added behaviour of clinging and following are developed in the child (Cassidy & Shaver,

Each of these domains I have written about come together in order to create one normally functioning and developing baby boy named Liam. Quite a few connections can be made between the domains: attachment, cognitive development, language development, motor skill development, and temperament. One connection can be made between attachment and cognitive development, because, “On cognitive tasks, the securely attached children have scored higher on measures of persistence and self-reliance” (Crain, 2011, p. 63). This is true in Liam’s case because he is both securely attached and persistent. Another connection can be made between attachment and language/communication development, because when an infant is beginning to speak their first words, “The parent and baby…have been practicing communicative exchanges for many months,” due to attachment as well as play (Davies, 2011, p. 158). Even though Liam is not speaking words yet, Sheila and Derek have been and are continuing to teach him what will be his first words. This is done through the repeated labeling of objects and actions used in ordinary conversations that occur every day between them and with Liam. A final connection, and perhaps the largest connection, can be made between motor development, cognitive development,

Attachment starts to develop since the women’s pregnancy, during this stage of human development the female starts to cultivate emotional attachment to the fetus. The method in which attachment is formed during gestation will eventually affect or enhance the child stance during pregnancy or even after birth. Attachment can be defined as the manner in which an infant creates an emotional connection between specific members. Attachment can be clearly detected, especially with the persons who are closer to the infant. In the article “Attachment Issues”, states the definition of attachment by theorist John Bowlby, and how attachment is constructed “Is not a one-time event, but a process that begins during birth and progress into the early

An attachment is an emotional bond formed between a parent and a child. An attachment is common between a mother and a child. Strange anxiety is when a child tends to fear when they see an unfamiliar person. However, the primary attachment figure is usually mother for a child. A child uses a secure base, usually a primary attachment figure when exploring around. One of the researchers named Ainsworth has created a procedure to propose attachment behavior. Key behaviors observed by researchers in each attachment are the child’s exploration of toys, and the reaction of a child when the caregiver leaves and returns to the room. There are four types of attachments that researchers have agreed on. The first one is a secure attachment that involves

As humans, building relationships between others is a form of connecting and communicating. It is a social situation that is experienced every day through the course of a lifetime. The initial relationship that is made is between the mother and the child. This bond that connects two people is known to be called attachment. The theory of attachment begins at birth, and from that, continuing on to other relationships in family, friends, and romance. Attachment is taught through social experiences, however the relationship with the mother and her temperament are the key factors in shaping the infants attachment type, which

Early attachment of infants to their caregivers is important in that it establishes trust, security, resiliency and give infants reassurance that they will be cared for. Parents (or caregivers) are infants’ first teachers, and creating a strong, healthy attachment is an important aspect in a child’s intellectual and physical development. Most importantly, I believe that the bond between the infant and caregiver also serves as a foundation that guides an infant’s emotional and social development. In my opinion, the quality of the bond created will have an effect on the infant’s parenting skills once he or she becomes a parent. Children learn not only through observing behaviors and imitation, but they also absorb information through their experiences

On November 20th 2014, our lecture that was presented was on attachment. Dr. Lutz gave examples on attachment of monkeys and bird infants with their parents. Konrad Lorenz came up with the imprinting theory. This was the process in which new born birds and some mammals becomes attached to their mothers. This is because of protection, food, etc. We also learned about Harlow’s study, in which he used monkeys to test attachment. During the study he had a baby monkey, and two fake moms. One was made from copper, but had a bottle. The other was made from cloth. We would think that when the monkey saw the bottle he would stay with that mom, but he went to the mom that was made from cloth, because of comfort.

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

This behavior can be explained by the caregiver’s unpredictable and unstable behavior. Because of the distress of the caregiver’s possible abandonment, the infant will go to extreme measures to preserve that attachment and will be more alert to signs of abandonment or dismissal.