PSY1020 Mind and Behaviour in Context
Essay Cover Sheet
Essay Title: Evaluate the evidence that attachments in
early childhood influence the formation of relationships
in adolescence and adulthood.
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Word count (Excluding title and references section): 1560
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, Attachment is an emotional bond which has a great impact on people’s
relationships especially in early childhood between a child and their primary
caregiver, since it encourages development, and it has an influence on how the
child will form relationships with others later in life.
For this reason, it is important to consider the way attachment and the different
factors such as ‘‘divorce, single parenthood, life threatening illnesses within the
family, parental drug abuse, death of a family’’ (McConnell and Moss, 2011, p.60)
in early childhood will positively or negatively influence the formations of
relationships in adolescence and adulthood.
John Bowlby (1982) was a psychoanalyst who created the attachment theory.
He stated that a child will develop an internal working model based on the
interactions and responsiveness that the caregiver has given to the child. So, for
example, if a child is crying, longing for safety and comfort from the mother, the
primary caregiver, by hugging and reassuring the child it will help reach
proximity. Otherwise, if there is no such response from the caregiver it will make
the child seek different strategies to fulfill his need of proximity.
Additionally, the relationship between a child and caregiver could create various
attachment styles such as: secure attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment,
anxious-ambivalent attachment, and disorganized attachment.
The first three are all organized when it comes to acting in response to distress
while the last one is disorganized.
Secure attachment is when a caregiver is receptive and accessible who provides
comfort and protection by reassuring the child to express their feelings, which
makes children seek direct reassurance from their caregiver (McConnell and
Moss, 2011, p.62).
On the other hand, anxious-avoidant attachment happens when a caregiver does
not know how to properly provide protection and reassurance by minimizing the
child feelings and not efficiently assisting them, for this reason avoidant children
minimize their attachment distress (McConnell and Moss, 2011, p.62).
Children with anxious-ambivalent attachment tend to be difficult to calm down
when distressed, because there is a lack of consistency from the caregiver which
makes the child clingy and demanding for some type of reaction.
The last one is disorganized attachment which is when a caregiver displays
unusual actions towards the child by scaring and rejecting them. Usually,
caregivers with this type of behavior have unsolved trauma from their past
which they project on their child, leading to this type of attachment making the
child have no predictable strategy for protection (McConnell and Moss, 2011,
p.62).
By taking into consideration these attachment styles and explanations we can
consider the impact they have on the child later in life.
Various studies look into the continuity of attachment and how it can influence
the formation of relationships later in life.
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