During the first years of a child's life, a bond is established between him and his parents (or caregivers). Depending on how this bond has been developed, whether the child has felt safe or not, loved or not, if their basic needs have been met or not, influence how they relate to their environment in the future. That is why it is so important to take care of that bond with the little ones. We show you the 4 types of attachment in children.
Attachment theory
Attachment theory developed John Bowlby in the 50s. He was a basic figure for child psychology. He studied for much of his life children from different institutions who had been deprived of their motherhood.
From that study he found that there were 3 types of attachment based on the bond created between children and their parents / caregivers or guardians, which was later expanded to 1 more. Attachment is key to the correct psychological and emotional development of children. It will depend on him that the child feels safe, suffers from fears and insecurities.
Mary ainsworth also studied the type of attachment in the experiments of "Strange situation". In these experiments Ainsworth would bring a mother and her child into a room, and after a few minutes a stranger would come in trying to play with the child. Then the mother leaves the situation to study the child's reaction to a stranger and the absence of his mother.
Shortly after, the mother re-enters and leaves again with the stranger in the room. The child is left alone, and will be torn between the desire to explore the new room and the anxiety to separate from his mother. The results showed that the children investigated the place more when the mother was there, and then they stopped when the stranger entered and stopped when the mother left the room.
These studies allowed research on attachment in children. Let's see what they are the 4 types of attachment in children.
Secure attachment
The child feels loved, valued and accepted through the bond with their caregiver. You can interact with the world with the security and tranquility that the adult will be there when you need it. His emotional and physical needs are met, and the child feels safe, happy, and loved. It is the healthiest type of attachment and healthy of all. They do not suffer from the fear of abandonment because of the security that attachment provides.
In the article "How to develop secure attachment in children" we give you some keys to enhance this type of attachment so that your children develop in a positive way with their environment and have skills to face the world.
Avoidant attachment
In avoidant attachment, children feel that their needs are not met, so they grow up with a series of affective deficiencies. They suffer a lot, they do not feel loved or valued and they live with a sense of rejection that they will try to fill in any way possible.
Feel insecure since the most important figure for him was not there when he needed him, they did not have his support or his love. This will create problems in the future when establishing affective relationships.
Anxious and ambivalent attachment
Children who develop an anxious and ambivalent attachment feel completely insecure about their caregivers, and constantly need their approval. They fear being abandoned, and suffer from emotional dependence.
In the future they will feel many insecurities in their relationships, due to the fear of abandonment and not being loved.
Disorganized attachment
It is a mix between anxious and avoidant attachment. They do not feel loved and do not know how to properly manage the emotions that this generates. They feel frustration, rage and anger. The bond between your caregivers and the child is careless, negligent, irresponsible, or inconsistent.
As we see, the type of attachment that children develop will affect their adult life. Let us take care of not only the physical needs of our children but also the emotional and mental ones.
Because remember ... all of this will impact your future emotional, psychological, cognitive and social development.