Attachment theory is a psychological framework that explains how people form and maintain emotional bonds with others. It suggests that people are born with a need to form attachments with caregivers as children and that these early bonds have an impact on their lives.
In this framework, attachment means an affectional bond between two individuals, or in this case, between an infant and a caregiver.
Such bonds between adults are usually reciprocal but in the case of infants these are based off of the infant’s need for protection and safety.
John Bowlby's Attachment Theory
The earliest works on Attachment were done by British Psychiatrist & Psychoanalyst John Bowlby (1950) who was influenced by the works of Konrad Lorenz. Bowlby viewed attachment as a product of evolutionary processes. While the behavioral theories of attachment suggested that attachment was a learned process, Bowlby and others proposed that children are born with an innate drive to form attachments with caregivers.
The first 12 months of life are very important for the formation of secure attachments and if this is delayed beyond the age of two and a half to three years, it can lead to long-term difficulties for the child in adult life. This risk continues up till the age of five.
He suggests that attachment also serves to keep the infant close to the mother, thus improving the child’s chances of survival. Bowlby proposes that during the early stages of human evolution, only those infants would have survived the harsh conditions that stayed close to their mother or Primary caregiver. Hence this can be considered a survival instinct.
Bowlby’s concept of Monotropy implies that although children form many attachments, one of these is different from the others in terms of quality. That is the attachment with the primary caregiver, which in most cases is the mother but may be another substitute.
Infants become attached to those caregivers who are sensitive to their needs, respond when they are in distress and interact positively with them in social situations. Another key aspect is consistency. Infants form attachment to those primary caregivers who are consistent in their caregiving attitude towards them.
According to Bowlby, there is a definite critical period during which it is vital for the infant to form secure attachments with the primary caregiver. The first 12 months of life are very important in this regard. And if the formation of a secure attachment is delayed beyond the age of two and a half to three years, it can result in irreversible long-term cognitive, emotional and social problems. This risk continues up till the age of five. However modern research suggests that although there is a critical period of attachment, the time frame is broader and if there is failure of attachment, the negative effects are not as long-lasting or irreversible as Bowlby suggested.
The theory has given rise to the four styles of attachment we know today:
Secure
Anxious-ambivalent
Avoidant
Disorganized.
These styles of attachment are characterized by different patterns of behavior and motivation. We shall learn about those attachment styles and what they mean for adult life, in the next article.
Conclusion:
As we have learned in this article, it is fundamental for infants to form early secure attachments with their primary caregiver in order to ensure healthy development of their emotional, social and cognitive faculties. If this early attachment phase is disrupted for any reason, it can lead to long-term difficulties for the child in adult life.
In the next article we shall learn about the different attachment styles based on the attachment theory and how these attachment styles can be indicative of the child's behavior in adult life.
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