The outcomes of the psychosocial development of children can greatly be affected by their experiences with primary caregivers. Psychology 101 usually says that we are all products of our environment and that the family is the first social institution for a child. I believe who we are as a person is a reflection of the cumulative experience both good and bad with primary caregivers in our life.

Some have mastered the art of resiliency and self help and have achieved great success in life where as others have made do with the basic lessons taught in childhood and situational circumstances. However, I believe that for many successful people, the key that unlocked their potential was an experience with a significant person in their lives that helped them realize their sense of worth and ability. I applaud the many grandparent caregivers who have chosen to provide a positive experience for children in need in the family.

The notion of bonding can be understood in the context of the attachment theory. The attachment theory states that the responsiveness of primary caregivers to individual needs for comfort and security affects a person’s personal beliefs, feelings and self-esteem.
Psychologist John Bowlby in the late 1960’s was the first attachment theorist, to study the affects of bonding in children. Mary Ainsworth later in the 1970’s expanded upon Bowbly’s attachment theory by creating the “Strange Situation” experiment. In the Strange Situation experiment, children’s responses were studied as they reacted to being alone and then reunited with their mothers. Results from the “Strange Situation” experiment revealed 3 major styles of attachment including:

• Secure Attachment
• Avoidant Attachment
• Ambivalent Attachment

Disorganized Attachment was added by Main and Solomon in the late 1980s after their research on attachment.

Secure attachment
Children with secure attachments have had positive experiences with their caregivers and are able to form close, healthy, and meaningful relationships with others.

Avoidant Attachment
Avoidant attachments are formed in children when their primary caregivers are emotionally disconnected from them. Independence is encouraged and may be forced upon the child. Children with the avoidant attachments replay their experiences by also becoming emotional disconnected and avoiding closeness with others.

Ambivalent
Children who form ambivalent attachment have had inconsistent experiences with primary caregivers. They usually become clingy and have high levels of anxiety.

Disorganized Attachment
Disorganized attachments are formed when a caregiver is unresponsive, ignores, or is unaware of the needs of the child in their care. Disorganized attachments in children can also be formed if the caregiver exhibits threatening and hostile behaviors. Children respond to others by becoming extremely passive and withdrawing or aggressive and disruptive.

Repairing Insecure Attachments
(Saisan, Kemp, Jaffe, & Hutman, 2008)
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/parenting_bonding_reactive_attachment_disorder.htm

• Learn what creates a secure attachment.
• Provide support for the primary caregiver
• Help the child express his or her needs.
• Time, consistency and predictability is key

It is believed that insecure attachment may be the root of many dysfunctional behaviors contributing to relationship dissatisfaction and dissolution. However, change is always possible. (Hazan & Shaver, 1994). Research by Egeland and Sroufe from the University of Minnesota in 1981 on attachment and maltreatment revealed that children with inadequate care and insecure attachments formed secured attachments with the support of family members (usually the grandmother)”.

References and Links

Egeland, B. & Sroufe, A (1981). Attachment and Early Maltreatment. Child Development, 52, 44-52.

Hazan, C., & Shaver, P.R. (1994). Attachment as an organizational framework for research on close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5(1) 1-22.

Saisan, J., Kemp, G., M.A., Jaffe, J., & Hutman, S, (2008). Insecure attachment and attachment disorders: Symptoms and repair of poor attachment and reactive attachment disorder. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from Understand, Prevent, and Resolve Life’s Challenges.

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