Attachment Between Infant and Caregiver Health Article

Definition

Infant attachment is the deep emotional connection that an infant forms with his or her primary caregiver, often the mother. It is a tie that binds them together, endures over time, and leads the infant to experience pleasure, joy, safety, and comfort in the caregiver's company. The baby feels distress when that person is absent. Soothing, comforting, and providing pleasure are primary elements of the relationship. Attachment theory holds that a consistent primary caregiver is necessary for a child's optimal development.

Description

Attachment theory originated in the early 1950s with John Bowlby, a child psychiatrist, and Mary Ainsworth, a psychologist, who both became interested in young children's responses to experiencing loss. They began studying the realms of attachment and bonding. Their theory was developed and integrated over the following 60 years by researchers around the world. (For attachment as it pertains to adoption, readers can consult the entry in this encyclopedia on adoption.)

Attachment theory is based on the idea that the bond between an infant and his or her primary caregiver is the crucial and primary influence in infant development and as such forms the basis of coping, the development of relationships, and the formation of personality. If the mother is absent or not available, a primary caregiver serves the role usually assumed by the mother. Attachment refers to a relationship that emerges over time from a history of caregiver-infant interactions. As adults nurture and interact with infants during the first year of life, infants organize their behavior around these caregivers. Attachment is a phenomenon involving physiological, emotional, cognitive, and social processes. The baby displays instinctual attachment behaviors that are activated by cues or signals from the caregiver. Therefore, the process of attachment is defined as a mutual regulatory system, in which the baby and the caregiver have an influence on one another over time. The caregiver's presence provides a feeling of safety and security for the infant. Once this relationship is established, the preference tends to remain stable, and a shift of attachment behavior to a new or strange person becomes more difficult.

Some theorists believe that the attachment system evolved to ensure that infants and caregivers remain physically close, and that the infant is protected. Thus, in order to survive, an infant must become attached to the primary caregiver, who is stronger and wiser regarding the dangers of the world. The caregiver is a safe refuge, a source of comfort and protection, and serves as a secure base from which the infant can explore.

Research has shown that babies and caregivers demonstrate an instinct to attach. Babies instinctively reach out for the safety and security of the safe haven they have with their primary caregiver, while parents usually instinctively protect and nurture their children. Children who start their lives with the essential basis of secure attachment fare better in all aspects of functioning as their development progresses.

Attachment and behavior

From a behavioral perspective, attachment is represented by a group of instinctive infant behaviors that serve to form the attachment bond, protect the child from fear and harm, and aid in the infant's protected exploration of the world. These behaviors include:

• reaching
• crying
• grasping
• smiling
• vocalizing
• clinging
• sucking
• moving

All of these behaviors assist in facilitating the maximum physical and emotional development of the child. These particular behaviors may vary from one culture or society to others, but the attachment relationship appears to be universal.

Attachment and emotions

From an emotional perspective, attachment is the development of a mutual bond in which the primary caregiver positively influences infant development through the interactions and relationship that person has with the child. Babies are unable to regulate themselves and become overwhelmed by their emotional states, including those of fear, pleasure, and sadness. Babies are unable to keep themselves in a state of equilibrium, as they lack the skills to control either the intensity or the duration of those emotions. In an attached relationship, babies rely on their primary caregiver to help them navigate the world. The primary caregiver serves as a secure base that is used for exploration and learning. At the same time, the infant forms the necessary skills of self-protection and intimacy.

Other important functions that a secure attachment between an infant and his or her caregiver serves for the developing child include the following:

• learning basic trust, which serves as a basis for all future emotional relationships
• exploring the environment with feelings of safety and security, which leads to healthy intellectual and social development
• developing the ability to control behavior, which results in effective management of impulses and emotions
• creating a foundation for the development of identity, which includes a sense of capability, self-worth, and a balance between dependence and independence
• establishing a moral framework that leads to empathy, compassion, and conscience
• generating a core set of beliefs
• providing a defense against stress and trauma

Children will display distinct attachment styles, which can be loosely defined as either secure or insecure. Secure styles show a child consistently connected to the primary caregiver, with a firmly established sense of trust and a nurturing response; however, insecure styles of attachment have features of instability.