Waite, L. J., & Lillard, L. A. (1991). Children and marital disruption. The RAND Publication, N-3315-NICHD, 930-953.…
Modern attachment theory, founded by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, studied the relationship between children and their caregivers. Attachment theory was applied to adult romantic relationships in the late 1980’s by Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver. They found interactions between adult romantic partners and interactions between children and their caregivers shared similarities. There are four main attachment styles identified in both adults and children. The adult styles are secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant. The children styles are secure, anxious-ambivalent, anxious-avoidant, and disorganized. The core principles of attachment theory apply to both types of relationships.…
Emotional development is important for a child as it plays essential roles in the functioning and wiring of the brain within the first few years of life. The right emotional attachments formed by a parent or caregiver can influence how a child interacts with others as well as how the child copes with stress and adversity. The need for secure attachment in a child’s life serves as a type of mental molding which helps with positive growth and expectations in the confident adult life. Secure parental relationships at an early age lay the blueprint for an adult who is able to create and maintain…
References: Kotchick, Beth A; Forehand, Rex; Armistead, Lisa; Klein, Karla; Wierson, Michelle. Journal of Family Psychology10.3 (Sep 1996): 358.…
In the 1980s, Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver were able to garner a lot of attention, then, when they turned attachment theory on adult relationships. In their studies, they looked at a number of couples, examining the nature of the attachments between them, and then observed how those couples reacted to various stressors and stimuli. In the case of adults, it would seem that a strong attachment is still quite important. For example, in cases where the adults had a weak attachment, there were feelings of inadequacy on the part of both parties. When attachments were too strong, there were issues with co-dependency. The relationships functioned best when both parties managed to balance intimacy with independence. Much as is the case with developing children, the ideal situation seemed to be an attachment that functioned as a secure base from which to reach out and gain experience in the world.…
Attachment theory describes the common human need to cultivate long-lasting affectional bonds with primary caretakers. According to Corsini and Wedding (2014), John Bowlby proposed that humans have an innate tendency to make strong affectional bonds and that separation or threat of separation of these bonds causes emotional distress, sadness, and in some cases more severe depression. A secure attachment comes from what the caretaker provides such as communication, security and availability. However, if the caretaker is not responding to the needs of the child, is not available, does not provide security or only communicates with the child in a negative way, this will create an insecure attachment. “Insecurely attached adolescents perceive the expression of negative feelings as unwelcome and unsafe, which reinforces the negative schema of self and others and thus makes the vulnerable to depression” (Diamond, Siqueland, & Diamond, 2003, pg. 109).…
What I found interesting in this week chapter reading is the Attachment theory (pg. 319). The attachment theory is all about that children can grow up secure or insecure and have long life effects from that insecurity or security they got as children. Insecurity can lead to a lot of problems according to the author, having trouble in relationships, issues in romantic relationships and creating bad self-fulfilling prophecies for themselves. Compared to children who experience security from the family members grow up to be more successful in everything they do; better relationships, better self-fulfilling prophecies and having longer lasting romantic relationships.…
For instance a child that had a secure attachment with their caregivers would be able to develop lasting relationships as adults. Contrary a child who had an avoidant attachment with their caregivers would have difficulty creating long lasting relationships and would have difficulty to trust others. Research has been able to confirm that our adult relationships are shaped by our early patterns of attachment and with the ways of dealing with closeness, separation and love (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). Furthermore Bartholomew (1990) identified four styles of adult attachment that are derived from the two dimensions that have to do with our self-image and image of others (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). For the dimension of self-image and image of others there are two levels which are the positive and negative and the combination of them composing the four patterns of adult attachment styles. Additionally this model, as indicated in the figure, includes the dimensions of dependency on the horizontal axis and avoidance on the vertical axis and both vary from low to high (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Ma, 2006). For instance the secure adult attachment style based on this model is characterized by positive self-image with low…
Ainsworth’s research went further to say that securely attached children will grow up with a more positive outlook of themselves and see other as being good and helpful. She said that, “Avoidant children think themselves unworthy and unacceptable, caused by a rejecting primary caregiver (Larose, &Bernier, 2001). Accordingly, insured attachment styles are associate with an increased risk of social and emotional behavioral…
5. Bowlby, J. 1988. A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. New York: Basic Books.…
Parents are often told to “think about the children.” Doctor Judith S. Wallerstein, the Executive Director of the Center for the Family in Transition, California, stated in her scholarly journal : “A comprehensive review of research from several disciplines regarding long-term effects of divorce on children yields a growing consensus that significant numbers of children suffer for many years from psychological and social difficulties associated with continuing and/or new stresses within the post-divorce family and experience heightened anxiety in forming enduring attachments at later developmental stages including young adulthood.” In this, Wallerstein is making the claim that divorce effects children so deeply that they suffer from stress, anxiety, and psychological and social difficulties. While these have been common results, divorce is sometimes in the well-being of all family members. If parents argue often, disrupting and terrifying children, (especially if young) then separating would relieve family members from the anxiety that arguments and fighting cause. Robert E. Emery, a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Children, Families, and the Law, Virginia, claims experts are often confused on the true effects of divorce on children. In his article, he includes children whose parents’ marriage “was full of intense conflict and…
Secure attachment style – An attachment style that described adults who have positive views of relationships, find it easy to get close to others, and are not overly concerned or stressed out about their romantic relationships.…
Secure attachment can be positively reinforced when the primary caregiver actively responds to the infant’s behaviour. A study by Grossman and Grossman (1991) found that children who had securely attached relationships with their mother figure were able to form and enjoy close friendships throughout life. They found those who were brought up in insecure relationships were avoidant and had little or no friends later in life. Children who experience a secure attachment during childhood are more independent and enjoy exploring their surroundings, consequently developing a greater self-esteem Scroufe, et al. The attachment that a child experiences during childhood has been said to affect their social life. For example, children who are brought up in secure environments will be more likely to develop friendships and feel less lonely than insecure children Kerns, Klepac & Cole (1996). Theorist Hoffman (1997) found that children who have experienced secure attachment will develop the ability to be more academic than those from insecure backgrounds. Therefore, it is apparent that secure attachment positively influences the physical, psychological and behavioural development of a child, while continuing to reflect in adulthood and the next…
Obviously, there is demise in the relationship between the parents, but the relationships directly with the children are now critical and must be recognized and supported. Additional apparent stresses upon such relationships are economic, concerns of loyalty, parental conflict, and the previous level of nurturance prior to divorce. Children often feel they are caught in the middle of their parent’s conflict (Gilman, Schneider & Shulak, 2005). Children living with parents who seek to contain and/or resolve their conflicts, will fare much better over the course of time than children who live in the midst of parental conflict( Gilman, Schneider & Shulak, 2005). At the same time, children who continue a warm and loving relationship with parents and feel that their parents understand their experience will also fare better than children who have a less nurturing relationship with their parents (Gilman, Schneider & Shulak,…
I chose to discuss secure attachment for the purpose of this assignment. To me, secure attachment directly influences all other topics that were discussed in this chapter, and thus is the most critical topic we covered. For example, emotional regulation occurs when there is secure attachment and the infant is under minimal stress; so, promoting secure attachment also promotes emotional regulation. In addition, many of the children that I work with have younger siblings that are beneath the age of 36 months; therefore, many of the strategies utilized to promote secure attachment in children are applicable for me to share with the parents I work with.…