Our sense of who we are, our future relationships, and our development come from a combination of our genetic makeup and our experiences. The person or people we bond with during our first few years ( care environment) has a great impact on our development.
The primary functions of the primary attachment are protection and survival, both of which depend on the presence of an appropriate caregiver. John Bowlbya British psychologist and psychologist who studied young children separated from their parents during war, concluded that the caregiving relationship is as important to mental health as nutrients to physical health, and that attachment behavior is biologically based (Bowlby, 1973). When babies feel stressed or threatened, the attachment system is activated and they cry or otherwise show their need for a caregiver.
A second function of the attachment bond is to form a sense of self, a sense of the other, and expectations about how the world will respond to itself. In early attachment relationships, each partner’s behavior is shaped and shaped by the other. Children’s attachment behavior is aimed at bringing their caregivers closer to them to help them with their problems. How the caregiver behaves in response influences the child’s behavior in future distressing moments. In turn, the caregiving behavior of the attached person is influenced by the behavior of the child.
If the baby’s first cries bring an immediate and soothing response, the baby will learn to wait and feel confidence they are worthy of care in response to the caregiver and in themselves. Babies know that a babysitter will be there if they cry. If there is no immediate response, attachment behavior increases – crying, rocking, jumping. If there is still no response and this happens over and over again, the child may not be able to handle it and become depressed. In this case, feelings of helplessness, unworthiness, or hopelessness may develop.
In the best cases, caregivers are sensitive to the child’s needs, but infants and children develop bonds with their primary caregivers even when their needs are not being adequately met. When this happens, the attachments and self-concepts that arise will become more difficult. The early experience of a caring response or lack of caring from a primary attachment figure can play an important role in future relationships by shaping expectations, instilling trust, or creating suspicion.
A third important function of the early appendix is its role in brain development. Certain areas of the brain are more dependent on experience and expertise for their development. For example, the orbito-frontal cortex, a key area for reasoning and association processes, has a sensitive period for growth between 6 and 12 months, which depends on exciting and pleasurable face-to-face interactions with the caregiver. Positively exciting situations (such as those found in games of peek-a-boo) activate a rush of biological processes in which endorphins are released in the brain. Conversely, if a child experiences prolonged negative arousal, such as being left alone to cry when hungry, stress hormones are released.
The ability to moderate emotional arousal at birth is present, but requires refinement and processing through interaction with the caregiver to develop. Affect regulation results from the interaction between the caregiver’s responsiveness to the child’s affect and the child’s centrality. nervous system and neurotransmitter systems. When a child is sad, the stress response system is activated. If the caregiver responds in time with soothing, the agitation can subside and the child can regain balance in a controlled environment. If the caregiver repeatedly fails to respond in a timely manner or responds in a way that increases negative arousal, the stress response system may become permanently dysregulated and interfere with the child’s ability to manage the future. stress moments
In the first year of life, the attachment relationship is an important context in which development occurs. A positive connection can provide training in empathy, control and balance of emotions, including destructive emotions, and optimal development of cognitive abilities. Examples of sedation or lack of sedation—children who only cry when excited—are included at the body (hormonal) level as well as representatively. Children can understand and memorize memory in ways that are later lost to us (Kaplow et al., 2006).
Attachment plays a crucial role in our early years and lays the foundation for our future. Some of us face obstacles early in life, made more difficult if our basic attachments are disrupted or disturbed. Some of us are lucky enough to have a more promising start in life, giving us more strength to deal with later challenges. Our brains and emotions have plasticity, the ability to change in response to new experiences, throughout life. No matter what our beginnings were, the subsequent experiences of attachment in adolescence or adults have the potential to enable new patterns and responses.
