Introduction
Attachment entails the sustained and evolving connection flanked by a close emotional association between a child and their caregiver, mainly the parent. Despite being genetic and evolutionary, attachment is typically expressed depending on social engagement, and the adult defines it. Parents who are sensitive and responsive easily facilitate their children to develop trust. Attachment comes to play when they become mobile; they engage while exploring, seeking pleasure and protection. Therefore, once a secure attachment is established, the child becomes more independent and is more easily comforted when faced with moments of agony. The process transpires when the child is in their first year or so, after which the child will slowly develop likings for specific people, which is essential for normal development. Out of the understanding of attachment, two leading psychologists developed theories to describe the impact of early social experiences with primary caregivers on a child’s relationships in life. This paper aims to describe Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s attachment theories as they define the relationships a child will develop with others as they become adolescents.
Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
John Bowlby’s attachment theory principally comprises four stages of attachment. He indicated that even though children may not prefer specific people over others, their emotional development becomes stronger at around four to six months. The theory explains the survival mechanisms children develop once they get physically separated from their parents and their attachment to alternate caregivers. According to Mossler (2014), Bowlby’s phases of attachment include pre-attachment, attachment-in-the-making, organized, goal-directed attachment, and finally, the formation of reciprocal partnerships. Pre-attachment occurs between birth to six weeks, where adult interaction is supported by smiling, gazing, and crying. The child does not protest or manifest separation anxiety once left by the usual caregiver. Attachment-in-the-making develops from six weeks to six months, and that child develops familiarity and preferences. The child can communicate with familiar people more than strangers and rarely protests when the usual caregiver leaves. Organized, goal-directed attachment begins from the seventh month up to two years, when the child becomes distressed as soon as the familiar caregiver leaves. Finally, reciprocal partnerships form from the second year onwards as protests decline, and the child can identify that parents will return and develops negotiated associations.
Ainsworth Attachment Theory
Mary Ainsworth helped to improve Bowlby’s principles of attachment theory. While conducting a laboratory experiment with her colleagues called Strange Situation, Ainsworth recognized typical attachment styles. They realized that infants would experience successive separation-and-reunion incidents that defined the strength of their attachment bond. The process involves eight steps denoted by the child’s interaction with the mother and a stranger, out of which it emerged that children reacted differently to the two reunion circumstances. About 33 percent of the kids did not show any specific pattern (Mossler, 2014). However, most infants showed distinct but clearly defined ways of attachment.
Ainsworth categorized the different patterns of attachment observed into four distinct groups. The first group, securely attached infants, is where most children lie and are characterized by a safe attachment. The child can understand their environment such that when the caregiver leaves, they feel distressed but calm down upon returning. The second highest number of children falls under the category of insecure-avoidant infants, for whom it does not matter whether the caregiver is present or absent (Mossler, 2014). In the third category, insecure-resistant infants, there is a relatively high level of distress as the children become ambivalent once the caregiver leaves and become furious upon their return. There was a minor level of secure connection in the last group that Ainsworth called disorganized-disoriented infants (Mossler, 2014). Once the caregiver leaves, the child becomes confused, and no specific behavior can be observed even when they return.
Attachment Experiences Effect on Psychological Development
Attachment is critical to a child’s psychological development, given those children whose attachment figures are consistently accessible, responsive, and understanding form more safe and secure connections. Securely attached children can quickly develop positive representations of themselves, others, and the world as their psychological developments enables them to understand that their needs will be met consistently. However, children and adolescents with insecure attachments will likely manifest attachment disorder. Shah (2015) states that the condition stems from a lack of bonding and security between the child and caregiver in infancy. Insecure attachments occur when the caregiver is inconsistent in responding to their infant’s needs to the extent that the child becomes unsure of what to expect of themselves, others and the world.
In particular, psychological development in children is mainly hampered in the extreme case of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). According to Shah (2015), there are two types of RAD: inhibited and disinhibited. Inhibited RAD results from having caregivers who did not provide emotional support and comfort when needed. Behaviors that are typically associated with this pattern include withdrawal from others, avoidance of comforting gestures, self-soothing behaviors, vigilance, aggression, and awkwardness in social situations. Disinhibited RAD occurs when a baby experiences extreme neglect and emotional and physical distress.
Conclusion
Children develop attachments to people who are close to them at the early stages of development, especially parents. There are processes through which attachment is developed, which defines how a child behaves as an adolescent. Bowlby and Ainsworth developed two fundamental theories that describe the different stages and level of attachment. The propositions help to describe psychological challenges adolescents grapple with, such as RAD, that transpire if a child did not develop secure attachments in childhood.
References
Mossler, R.A. (2014). Child and adolescent development, (2nd ed). Zovio Inc.
Shah, N. S. (2015). Effects of Attachment Disorder on Psychosocial Development. Inquiries Journal, 7(02). Web.