There are four different kinds of attachments, one secure and three insecure, secure attachment, avoidant attachment, resistant attachment and disorganized attachment. “[A securely attached] baby may or may not cry when the mother leaves, but when she returns, the baby wants to be with her and if the baby is crying, it stops” (Kail).
“Securely attached babies are able to use the attachment figure as an effective secure base from which to explore the world. When such moderately stressful events as brief (3-minute) separations in an unfamiliar environment occur, these securely attached babies approach or signal to the attachment figure at reunion and achieve a degree of proximity or contact which suffices to terminate attachment behavior. They accomplish this with little or no open or masked anger, and soon return to exploration or play” (Colin).
“Securely attached babies feel assured by their mother’s nearness. When they are upset, she is a source of comfort” (Gershaw). “Babies in this group seem to be saying ‘I missed you terribly, I’m delighted to see you, but now that all is well, I’ll get back to what I was doing’. Approximately 60% to 65% of U.S. babies have secure attachment relationships (Kail).
“Insecurely attached babies seek the same comfort, but they are less assured by mother’s presence (Gerhaw)”. One of the insecure attachments is an avoidant attachment. “[A baby with an avoidant attachment] is not upset when the mother leaves and, when she returns, may ignore her by looking or turning away” (Kail).
“Babies with avoidant attachments are covertly anxious about the attachment figure's responsiveness and have developed a defensive strategy for managing their anxiety. Upon the attachment figure's return after the same moderately stressful events, these avoidant babies show mild version of the "detachment" behavior which characterizes many infants after separations of two or three weeks; that is, they fail to greet the mother, ignore her overtures and act as if she is of little importance” (Colin).
“Infants with an avoidant attachment look as if they’re saying, ‘You left me again. I always have to take care of myself!’ About 20% of U.S. infants have avoidant attachment relationships, which is one of the three forms of insecure attachment” (Kail). This seems to be a high percentage of babies who feel neglected.
The next insecure attachment is a resistant attachment which is characterized but the baby being “upset when the mother leaves and remains upset or even angry when she returns, and is difficult to console” (Kail). “In babies with [resistant] attachments, both anxiety and mixed feelings about the attachment figure are readily observable. At reunion after brief separations in an unfamiliar environment, they mingle openly angry behavior with their attachment behavior” (Colin). “[This group of infants seem to be saying], ‘Why do you do this? I need you desperately and yet you just leave me without warning. I get so angry when you’re like this’. About 15% of U.S. infants have this resistant attachment relationship” (Kail).
The last insecure attachment is the disorganized or disoriented attachment. “The baby seems confused when the mother leaves and when she returns, s if not really understanding what’s happening” (Kail).
“Babies classified in this group appear to have no consistent strategy for managing separation from and reunion with the attachment figure. Some appear to be clinically depressed; some demonstrate mixtures of avoidant behavior, openly angry behavior and attachment behavior. Other [babies] show odd, often uncomfortable and disturbing behaviors. These infant are often seen in studies of high-risk samples of severely maltreated, very disturbed or depressed babies, but also appear in normal middle-class samples” (Colin).
“The baby often behaves in contradictory ways, such as nearing the mother when she returns but not looking at her, as if wondering, ‘What’s happening? I want you to be her, but you left and now you’re back. I don’t get what’s going on!’ About 5 to 10% of U.S. babies have this disorganized attachment relationship” (Kail).
There is plenty of evidence that an infant’s attachment to his or her mother or primary caregivers has a great influence on how he or she acts socially in the future.
“The importance of early infant attachment cannot be overstated. It is at the heart of healthy child development and lays the foundation for relating intimately with others, including spouses and children. It affects parents' abilities to nurture and to be responsive to their children. The effects of infant attachment are long-term, influencing generations of families. “[However], it is often difficult to differentiate between outcomes resulting from early attachment patterns and those from associated aspects of present experiences. However, it has been widely observed that children interact with both familiar and new people on the basis of their previous adaptations, thereby perpetuating adaptive or maladaptive behavior. Research has shown that institution-reared children and foster children, who have been shuttled frequently from home to home, lose their capacity to form deep emotional bonds” (Colin).
Research as soon that early attachments are more powerful than attachments later in life; it is why it’s so important for an infant to be cared for properly from day one.
“Children who start out with secure attachments in infancy and toddler hood rebound more quickly if they have a rough life situation later on. But if infants and toddlers have lived in dysfunctional, rejecting, unloving, indifferent, or hostile environments, then healing later on is much more problematic. Each attachment provides the infant, toddler, and young child with templates for later relationships. The cold bully in the classroom has been shown to be the child whose parent did not enjoy bodily cuddling and got quite irritated easily with the baby. The victim in the preschool classroom is often the child whose mom, when he was a baby, was quite inconsistent in handling. She may have smooched the baby and paid attention to him, but only when she felt like it. This narcissistic parenting style results in the baby's inability to trust in consistent, loving, and personally empathic care” (Honig).
In other words a child with a secure attachment during infancy can overcome hardships better later in life than those with an insecure attachment. Furthermore, attachments can sometimes predict how a child will at in school and who he or she will be later in life.
Through research we now know that there are many different positive outcomes for securely attached children.
“Children with secure attachments have more basic trust than those who are anxiously attached. They have more ego resiliency through early and middle childhood, unless they experience significant negative changes. They can also cope with setbacks, and recover more quickly. Securely attached children have more flexibility in processing current information and in responding appropriately in new situations and relationships” (Colin).
“…Infants who experience the trust and compassion of a secure attachment…develop into preschool children who interact confidently and successfully with their peers” (Kail).
“Children who are securely attached to their mothers in infancy tend to have advantages in a variety of arenas as toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners. They do not perform better on cognitive tasks than anxiously attached children in most studies, but they do tend to be more persistent and enthusiastic in the way they pursue a task. Secure children are generally more sociable, cooperative and competent and more ego-resilient. Peers and teachers prefer them to children with anxious attachments” (Colin).
According to Sroufe’s research, even children who live unstable lives, but have a secure mother-infant attachment show evidence of positive consequences from their secure attachment.
“Children in Sroufe’s group led unstable lives. However, those with secure mother-infant attachment were more likely to: be self-reliant, have lower rates of mental disorders,do well in school (especially in math), and have good peer relationships. These differences were found to continue into adolescence. Sroufe believes that a secure attachment increases the child’s confidence. In turn, this confidence helps the child in other areas (Gershaw).
Unfortunately, there is also overwhelming evidence that insecure attachments can hurt a child’s personality development and can lead to social problems in school and adulthood. “Infants who do not experience a successful, satisfying first relationship [are] more prone to problems in their social interactions as preschoolers” (Kail). An insecure attachment can also lead to some psychological problems especially if it’s a disorganized attachment. “[However, most anxiously attached children do not develop psychopathology, but they appear to be at greater risk for it than secure children. In high-risk samples, anxious attachments are more common especially in the anxious/disorganized category” (Colin) Hostile behavior is yet another consequence of a disorganized attachment. “One well-executed study found that infants with anxious/disorganized attachments were at risk for showing hostile/aggressive behavior problems at age five” (Colin).
Infants that have an avoidant attachment are also at risk for social problems later on in life.
“About 20% of infants in most American samples are anxious/avoidant and have been the subject of close study. Their behavior is characterized by detachment, restricted emotional awareness, masked feelings and difficulty in expressing negative emotions. Their defensive posture, a reaction to insensitive, rejecting care received in infancy, is carried into later situations where it is maladaptive. An avoidant child does not request practical assistance or emotional support, lacking trust that people around him will respond positively. Children in this category play most often with objects, have limited fantasy play and are unable to admit normal imperfections. Anxious/avoidant children carry anger and anxiety unconsciously and build defenses against perceiving or communicating certain types of emotional information. They demonstrate more displaced aggression and more non-compliance than other groups. Nevertheless, they perform well on developmental tests and on tasks that measure cognitive skills” (Colin).
Even though this type of an attachment doesn’t seem to affect cognitive skills no parents wants their child to have social and emotional difficulties so making sure their child doesn’t develop an avoidant attachment is very important.
Every insecure attachment puts the child at risk for problems with relationships in the years to come, infants with a resistant attachment is no exception.
“[Resistant attached] infants (10 to 15% of most samples) are often less persistent, less enthusiastic and less compliant as toddlers than those classified as secure, express more anger and frustration. Preschoolers in this category are found to become victims of exploitation in interaction with peers. They are likely to elicit mixed responses from peers that perpetuate ambivalent feelings and expectations about relationships” (Colin).
A resistant attachment is very harmful to the child’s personality development.
It is very clear that a secure attachment to an infant’s mother or caregiver is very important in determining what kind of personality the child will have in the future. A secure attachment gives the infant a head start or a little help, if you will, in making and keeping relationships with peers, friends, family, teachers and even romantic relationships during the rest of his or her life. Sadly, an insecure attachment has an opposite it can make life harder and even damage a child socially. The good news is there are simple ways to make sure your infant develops a secure attachment to you. Feeding time is a great chance to bond with your infant.
“When breastfeeding the mother has the opportunity to hold her infant for extended periods of time [which helps the infant get attached to the mother]. Formula feeding should also involve holding the infant. Putting the child in a hard infant carrier for infant feedings detracts from the attachment process. Feedings are wonderful opportunities to bond with infants by gently cuddling, stroking, and gazing into their eyes while they nurse” (Fremion).
The way a parent carries the child is also significant in terms of building an attachment.
“Wearing [a] soft baby carrier gives additional infant-parent attachment time. Research has indicated that this increased physical contact makes mothers more responsive to their infants and is associated with good mother-infant attachment. Soft carrier use also is associated with fewer regular periods of crying. It may be that the child cries less just because the mother is closer, or she may attend to the infant's needs more quickly. Further study is needed to include the effects of fathers and infant attachment. Soft infant carriers can be worn when doing simple household chores or taking a walk. For the safety of the infant, refrain from wearing carriers when performing duties where the infant might be burned or injured, such as cooking or lawn mowing” (Fremion).
Diaper changing is something a mother or caregiver does many times a day and is another wonderful time to build a secure attachment with the baby.
“This is an opportunity to provide a basic need for your infant. The more comfortable he or she is, the happier he or she will be. Think how difficult it is for an adult to have positive feelings when they are uncomfortable. By quickly identifying and taking care of this basic need, the infant stays comfortable and you prevent him or her from developing diaper rash. Diaper changing is also a great time to socialize with your infant. Talking to your child in a gentle, friendly way makes the time more pleasant for you both” (Fremion).
Giving your infant a body massage is a great way to create a happy bond between mother and infant.
“A light body massage after lying in one position for an extended period can make an infant feel calmer or excite him or her. A light slow massage or gentle back patting can relax an infant and even put him or her to sleep. More active--although always gentle--massages can excite him or her and encourage body movement. Some parents find enjoyment in participating in movement programs designed for the parent and infant” (Fremion).
A parents facial expressions are so important to an infant and helps him or her recognize the parent. “Smiling and eye contact are a critical part of your infant's experience. Allow your baby to focus on your face several times a day. He or she needs to recognize his or her parent by sight as well as touch and smell” (Fremion). Lastly, the way a mother talks to her infant can create a secure attachment and let the child know he or she is loved and cared for. “Your voice can also be a positive influence on your infant. Hearing familiar positive sounds will assure your infant that you are close. You can do this when activities, such as dressing, cooking, or caring for others, prevent you from holding your infant” (Fremion). These are all examples of easy things a parent can do everyday to ensure the child develops a secure attachment and in turn develop a positive and confident personality.
This subject is so important to me because I am a new mother and I want to be sure to do the best job I can in raising him. My son is eight months old and as I read this chapter I kept wondering if he does indeed have a secure attachment to me. I take all my classes online and don’t work so I can be with him as much as possible but I never realized how much of an impact I have on his life at such an early age. I learned so much reading this chapter and researching for this paper. I now understand how important the way I look at and talk to him is and that it can result in a different type of social life. I talk to my son a lot more now and with a happier voice. I also play with him more often and make sure his diaper is always clean. Another change I’ve made is always holding him while he eats and reading him a book every morning. I am trying very hard to help him create a secure attachment so that he can grow up to be more confident, happy and have a wonderful social life. Life is hard as it is and I don’t want to do anything to give him a disadvantage. Furthermore, I now truly understand and appreciate the way my mother raised me. She was a stay at home mom and spent a lot of time with me and my three younger brothers. She always made me feel important, beautiful and smart. We played games, read books, went for walks and talked all the time. I never really realized how much of an impact she made in my life until I really started studying this subject. I’m so glad I had to write this paper because I really believe it has let me become a better mother and be thankful for my own mother a lot more.
Works Cited
Colin, Virginia L., “Infant Attachment: What We Know Now”. U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. 1991. Nancy Low and Associates, Inc. March 18, 2006.
Fremion, Ann L. “Parents of Infants, Take the First Step Toward Trust Relationships”. Ohio
State University Extension Fact Sheet. 1996. Ohio State University. March 21, 2006.
Gershaw, David Ph.D. “Bonding with Caregivers”. A Line on Life. 1997. Allyn F. Leon. March
10, 2006.
Honig, Alice Sterling. “Infant Attachment”. Phonemic Awareness in Young Children. 2002. Paul
H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. March 21, 2006.
Kail, Robert V. and John C. Cavanaugh. “Human Development-- A Life-Span View.” Third
Edition. Thomson: Belmont, 2004.
