Daycare and Separation Anxiety: A Brief Overview

Numerous advances led to Sigmund Freud’s inspirational Stages of Psychosexual Development, and it was Freud that introduced a clear theory explaining the process by which infants develop into adults. The transition from the Oral, Anal and Phallic stages begins to help us understand some of the processes that might lead to understanding attachment issues. Freud argued that humans are born “polymorphously perverse,” the idea that any number of objects could be a source of pleasure. While relief from stress observed in a child might be interpreted as simply the absence of emotional pain, on a deeper level, re-attachment and physical closeness to a caregiver after prolonged separation should result in a pleasurable experience. Setting aside for the moment the sexual aspects of Freud’s theory, the basis of his premise remains one of the human connection that is gained through some form of physical contact, be it obtained from others or themselves. (Stevenson, 2001)

In the early 1950s, Harry Harlow’s famous study of rhesus monkeys to determine attachment relationships demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys raised in isolation, preferred the comfort of a cloth-covered surrogate mother to that of a wire-mesh surrogate with an attached feeding bottle. Harlow wished to dispute the traditional view that affection and mother–infant attachment was based on food, and his experiments had clearly demonstrated that the foundations of attachment were not associated solely with the need for nourishment. A more important facet of human nature was that the profoundly meaningful act of physical intimacy plays a greater role in the health of an infant than nourishment alone. (Vicedo 2009)

However, Harlow was also breaking ground toward unders...

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...ence of these children and their remarkable ability to positively adapt in the face of adversity, and although there are a number of unanswered questions in connection to the biological, cognitive, and social processes that are experienced throughout childhood, it is encouraging to know that with further study, this resiliency might be encouraged in the daycare setting. (Degnan & Fox, 2007)

This paper is but a brief overview of this topic and a great deal more research not included in this paper has been devoted to the biopsychosocial influences of genetic predisposition, parents, daycare providers, the daycare environment, and the many other factors that effect children that attend daycare. However, it’s encouraging to know that progress is being made in the development of a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for our children at this most vulnerable age.