Kravets Solomia

Dragomanov National Pedagogical University

The Institute of Corrective Pedagogy and Psychology, student

Pet’ko Lyudmila, Scientific supervisor,

Ph.D., Associate Professor,

Dragomanov National Pedagogical University (Ukraine, Kyiv)

EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT ON EARLY AND LATER DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD

Соломия Кравец

Национальный педагогический университет имени М.П.Драгоманова, Інститут корекционной педагогики и психологии (Украина, г.Киев)

Петько Людмила,

к.пед.н., доцент НПУ имени М.П.Драгоманова (Украина, г.Киев)

Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory explains how much the parents' relationship with the child influences development. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study encompassing the fields of psychological, evolutionary, and ethological theory [1].

By attachment, Haiman P.E. means the relationship formed between the infant and the primary caregiver. A primary caregiver is the person, usually the mother, with whom the infant most frequently interacts. Through bonding with this caregiver, a child develops expectations about the extent to which he or she can acquire and maintain secure relationships, as well as beliefs about others’ trustworthiness in relationships [2].

In general, attachment is the emotional bond that individuals form with their caregivers over the course of their infancy. The quality and timing of attachment could determine the quality of later development [3, 82].

Attachment can be divided into two main categories: secure and insecure attachments. Insecure attachment itself has three different types namely: insecure-avoidant (there are three different types of insecure attachment (1) avoidant attachment (2) ambivalent or resistant attachment and (3) disorganized or disoriented attachment. Each type is characterized by a particular set of behaviour patterns) [3, 87]; insecure-ambivalent and insecure-disorganised [3, 82].

This article aimed to show a relationship between childhood attachment, adult attachment, and adult self-soothing skills. “Children who have healthy attachments to a parent and learn better self-soothing may grow to become adults who can self-soothe and who may experience less depression, anxiety, and prolonged negative emotions”, writes M.H. Reuter-Kairys [5]. Her study found a significant correlation between secure attachment to a parent during childhood and secure attachment in adulthood, and between insecure attachment to a parent in childhood and insecure attachments in adult relationships and did not find a relationship between secure attachment with mother during childhood and self-soothing skills. There was a relationship between secure attachment to father in childhood and decreased use of negative self-soothing skills: sexual and aggressive fantasies and behaviors.

The author stresses that further, there was a relationship between adult secure attachment and infrequent use of these negative self-soothing skills: oral passivity/somatization and sexual and aggressive behaviors. Finally, there was a relationship between insecure anxious adult attachment and decreased use of the negative self-soothing skills: oral passivity/somatization and sexual and aggressive behaviors.

M.H. Reuter-Kairys created programs which can be developed to assist parents in learning how to attach with young children. Additionally, parenting programs would benefit from incorporating self-soothing skills into their programs, so parents will begin to teach soothing techniques to young children. Children who have healthy attachments to a parent and learn better self-soothing may grow to become adults who can self-soothe and who may experience less depression, anxiety, and prolonged negative emotions [5].

The relationship between events in early development and a later capacity for change is due to the fact that the early social environment directly impacts the experience dependent maturation of the limbic system, the brain areas specialized for the organization of new learning and the capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing environment [4].

M. Malekpour points out that that a responsive, nurturing environment that allows the infant and young child to develop strong attachments to a limited number of caregivers enable the child to build neural pathways that encourage emotional stability [3, 85].

Children with problems related to insecure attachment begin to soak up statutory resources from early on when 'externalizing' behaviour (aggression, non-compliance, negative and immature behaviours, etc.) demands a response [7]. This is probably the largest group of children that Social Services, Special Education and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are expected to deal with.

According to attachment theory, the most essential task of the first years of life is the creation of a child’s secure bond to the mother. Many studies have demonstrated this by examining the interactions of mother and child and by contrasting the long-term behavioral outcomes of securely and insecurely attached children. More recently, research has shown that the type of attachment formed during infancy affects right brain development [6]. In fact, this biologic foundation can last a lifetime.

Bibliography

1. Attachment theory [Web site]. – Access mode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_theory

2. Haiman P.E. Effects of early attachment on childhood and beyond [Web site]. – Access mode: http://www.peterhaiman.com/articles/effects-of-early-attachment-on-childhood-and-beyond.shtml

3. Malekpour Mokhtar. Effects of attachment on early and later development / The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities Vol. 53, Part 2, JULY 2007, No. 105, pp. 81–95. [Web site]. – Access mode: http://www.bjdd.org/new/105/81to95.pdf

4. Mesulam, M.M. From sensation to cognition / Brain, 1998. – № 121. – PP. 1013–1052.

5. Reuter-Kairys Maryann Helen. Effects of early attachment on adult attachment and adult self-soothing: dissertation Doctor of Philosophy. – California School of Professional Psychology Alliant International University, Los Angeles, 2009 [Web site]. – Access mode:

http://udini.proquest.com/view/effects-of-early-attachment-on-goid:750921031/

6. Schore A.N. Dysregulation of the right brain: A fundamental mechanism of traumatic attachment and the psychopathogenesis of posttraumatic stress disorder / Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2002. – № 36. –PP. 9–30.

7. Speltz, M.L., Greenberg, M.T., DeKlyen, M. Attachment in preschoolers with disruptive behavior: A Comparison of clinic referred and nonproblem children / Development and Psychopathology, 1990. – № 2. – PP. 31–46.