Parent-infant attachment

Parent-infant attachment

1. Schaffer and Emerson

   • Majority of babies first attached to mother first, within few weeks/months formed secondary attachments to other family memberes
     • 75% formed attachment with father by 18 months

2. The role of the father

   • Grossman
     • Longitudinal study looking at parent's behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children's attachments in their teens
     • Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children's attachments in adolescence- father attachment was less important
     • Quality of father's play related to quality of adolescent attachments
       • Father's role is different- more to do with play and stimulation than nurturing

3. Fathers as primary caregivers

   • Field
     • Filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interaction with:
       • Primary caregiver mothers
       • Secondary caregiver fathers
       • Primary caregiver fathers
   • Primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers
     • Fathers can be nurturing attachment figure
   • Key to attachment is level of responsiveness not gender