Exploring Maternal Attachment and Its Impact on Child Development

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The article Maternal Attachment Representations, Maternal Sensitivity, and the Infant-Mother Attachment Relationship (1998) is based on the link between a parent’s portrayal of attachment and the relationship between the parent and child. One of the elements that is central to attachment theory is a parent’s cognitive representation of a relationship is representative of the pattern of interactions expected with developing a relationship with his/her own child. The assumption was justified van IJzendoorn reviewed six- hundred sixty-one dyads, and the results yielded positively to support that there are associations between security and autonomy. Results further yielded the association between a parent’s attachment delineation and the relationship …show more content…

The home visit lasted approximately two hours and was conducted by two female observers. One observer assessed the infant using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development while the other observer observed the mother as she completed the Attachment Q set. The mother was also interviewed so the observer could collect the family’s demographic information as well as the infant’s developmental history and health history. The infant played while the observers were collecting the information from the mother. The mother was also observed while her attention was divided between the observer and her child. The classifications for the mothers were either secure, avoidant, or ambivalent. If a mother was classified as secure, her response was prompt and effective when her infant signaled for reassurance. These infants show they are comforted by their mothers. The mothers who are in avoidant relationships tend to be unresponsive to signals from their infant. The infant will tend to be more social with the visitor instead of his/her mother. The mother tends to be more focused on the visitor; therefore, their infant is more engaged with the visitor or exploring further away from their mother. A mother in an ambivalent relationship may be unpredictable. The mother can be either responsive or non-responsive to their infants’ signals. Ambivalent mothers may appear overprotective and their infant may seem irritable because they are seeking contact with their mother. The infant is unable to explore to far from their mother. The mothers and their infants were observed within two weeks of the home visit under the Ainsworth Strange Situation. The results yielded that secure infants reunited with their mothers and then returned to play; avoidant infants ignored their mothers at first; and ambivalent infants were upset when they were reunited with their mothers. Six

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