Infant Attachment: Definition, Functions And Types
The childhood stage is wonderful. However, it entails many changes, since children have to internalize in a relatively short time everything that will prepare them for adult life.
This process of psychological evolution is not limited simply to technical aspects, such as learning to multiply or construct correct sentences. A necessary factor for the proper development of the child is attachment
Regarding the first years of life, it is understood as attachment the most important emotional and behavioral bond in early childhood in addition to the emotional bond, that is, the feeling that unites the child with one or more people in the family system.
The attachment is established during the first three months It gives rise to an internal model of emotional relationships, that is, an unconscious representation that, being quite stable in the first year, can be modified by subsequent experiences. Children will trust or not trust certain things, people, etc.
It also serves as the basis for emotional relationships, guiding the behavior of others and the way of addressing them.
A basic need
The attachment It is also a universal and primary need A pediatrician affirms that spoiling a child means raising him badly, that is, with little respect, little pampering, little affection, few hugs; It is impossible to raise him badly by paying too much attention to him, by playing with him a lot, by comforting him a lot when he cries or by holding him a lot.
The child needs a caregiver to become someone, to recognize himself as he is. This allows the baby’s brain to develop just as it should, thanks to the social dynamics with which it begins to work.
Situations adverse to attachment give rise to defensive mechanisms, a failure in the mentalizing and reflective function of the brain. Good treatment shapes its evolution and the correct functionality of the brain. A baby without attachment becomes emotionally disconnected
Functions of infant attachment
The functions that attachment plays during the first years of life are the following.
1. Seek and maintain proximity
It is very important that the mother or anyone in the family be close to the child to know what he or she feels
2. Resist the separation and protest if it occurs
The child, especially if he is very young, needs his parents for him to have adequate development. In the event that they separate, the child is more likely to develop behavioral problems or anxiety
3. Use the attachment figure as a basis of security
From this security it is possible to begin exploring the physical and social world This function helps their neurons connect properly and allows them to delve into education and, above all, for the child to organize things and have a clear idea of things, people, etc.
4. Emotional support
In childhood, attachment allows you to feel secure by looking to the attachment figure well-being and emotional support
Types of attachment
The following types of attachment influence the education and upbringing of boys and girls.
The attachment figure is the father or mother who is able to respond appropriately to the child’s emotional signals In this type of attachment, the child understands the feelings well and can regulate them; They seek proximity and contact; they have positive expectations; they show attitudes of cooperation and empathy; are easily comforted by attachment figures; They are socially competent people and show normal separation anxiety.
2. Anxious-ambivalent attachment
It is made up of parents who They are affectionate but they don’t know how to understand the baby well ; They play less, there is less contact; They are harsh and selfish and less sensitive; responds only to the child’s negative conditions (if a child complains); there is less contact. The child shows intense anxiety; they are hardly consoled by the attachment figure; shows anticipatory rage; does not access rules easily; They ignore their emotional states and there is antisocial behavior in adolescence.
3. Anxious-avoidant attachment
Here there are irresponsible, rejecting parents, intolerable with children, they think that everything the child does is wrong, there are continuous behaviors of anger and rejection The child has little or no separation anxiety; He doesn’t want to see his mother with strange people; he avoids rejections and punishments; the child notices that he is not loved, that he is annoying; They are less cooperative and more aggressive.
4. Anxious-disorganized attachment
is present when there are parents who physically and psychologically abuse the child, they manipulate their son. The child is disoriented, he approaches the attachment figure but avoids looking; They are not motivated to achieve specific goals or behaviors (they are full of fear and anguish); They fear their attachment figure and look for other people such as doctors or nurses; They are more likely to have behavioral and aggressive problems.
