Book 2: Chapter 1: Parenting & Attachment

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Parents

Long term commitment, nurturing child

Cultural, social, historic expectations.

Parents are primary agents who constrain, organise & structure personalities & experiences.

Behaviourist - rewards shape.

Social behaviourist - imitation of parents

Social constructivist - scaffolding

Parents can pass on problems - intergenerational transmission.

Animal Studies

Humans have long period of dependency

Lorenz - ethologist perspective. Imprinting greylag geese.

Harlow - monkey attachment. Wire/cloth mothers. 'contact comfort' as important as nourishment.

Linking questions:

How early does mother/infant bond form?

Is there critical period?

Can it be anyone?

Which parenting features are important?

Attachment Theory

Winnicott - 'comfort blanket' & transitional objects.

Bowlby linked biological basis for bonding (attachment)

IWM aspects:

Model of Self.

Model of Other.

Model of Relationship.

IWM persists into childhood & beyond.

Bowlby claimed:

heatlhy infant attachment requires long term stable relationships with carers.

Attachment to father can support attachment.

Biological parents are not necessarily essential.

IWM's are shaped in infancy.

Winnicott - 'good enough' mothering - encouragement of tolerance & waiting for fulfilment leads to healthy sense of self & independance.

Robertsons - argued separations indictae how securely attached are.

Ainsworth - argued reunions indicate attachment type & security. (SST)

Vanjljzendoorn & Kroonenberg - supported Ainsworth.

Type B - secure attachment

Type C - insecure ambivalent

Type A - insecure avoidant

Type D - disorganised (Main & Solomon)

Influences on Attachment

Sensitive parenting = secure attachment (Type B)

Vondra et al - maternal sensitivity coded. Found infants SST predictable from mothers sensitivity grouping.

Goldberg et al - insecure ambivalent had highest number of emotional events. Mothers of secure responded most. Secure infants showed full range of emotions having learned all emotions are valid in relationship.

Fagot & Kavanagh - parents prefer interacting with secure infants.

Lamb et al - predicitive ability of SST ony if stability in caregiving.

Belsky & Fearon - stability in attachment is consequence of stabe parent-child relationship.

Meins et al - maternal sensitivity using Ainsworth's scale & mothers utterances. Found Type B mothers made more mental state references. Concluded mothers sensitivity redicts attachment security.

Baumrind's Parenting Styles

Authoritarian

Authoritative

Permissive

Non-conformist

Baurmrind argues authoritative place realistic demands with moderate tension.

russell et al - mother more likely identify with authoritative & fathers authoritatrian.

Infant Attachment & Adult Attachment Links

Main & Others developed AAI to assess ability to come to terms with early relationships.

Dismissing = Type A

autonomous = Type B

Preoccupied = Type C

Bielefield - found SST not good predictor of AAI.

Hamilton - SST only predicted AAI if family was stable.

Adult Attachment Influence of Infant Attachment

Mothers AAI predicts infant SST

AAI predicts how mothers behave towards infants

Senistive parenting predictive of infant attachment

Adolescence

Kobak & Sceery - adolescents who rate secure/autonomous seen by peers more resilient and less hostile.

Grotevant - western adolsecnets shift primary attachments from parents to peers of same sex then opposite sex.

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