Attachment Disorder - Essay Example

___________ ID: _______________ d: April-19-2008 Attachment Disorder Attachment disorder is a common term used to describe various ups and downs of moods, emotions, social attachments and care giving not only in children but also in adults and elderly people. Usually the disorder is formed when there is a failure to form normal attachments in early childhood phase i.e., from six months to three years of age. It might take place among adults as a result of neglect and abuse while in their early childhood phase. In other words, attachment disorder is all about disrupting a normal attitude of maintaining social relations with family members and peers. This could be because of many possible reasons happened in the early childhood. When we examine the word 'attachment', it provides us a vision in the realm of socio-emotional development and measures the security of infant-mother attachment that proves equally successful in documenting systematic associations between development at the end of the first year of life and subsequent functioning as late as the early school-age years (Belsky & Nezworski, 1988, p. 4). Attachment theory as defined by Bowlby from its beginning was concerned with the implications of atypical patterns of attachment as well as the formation and course of normal infant-parent relationships. In order to explain the theoretical part of attachment disorder, Bowlby formulated his ideas of personality development to explain the link between early emotional deprivation and later pathology as a guide for the diagnosis and treatment of emotionally disturbed children and families. Thus, 'attachment' acts as a tool that exists in between psychopathology and normal development. Attachment disorder based on the Attachment Theory Investigations carried out in a number of laboratories suggests that infants whose relationships with their mothers can be characterized as secure as opposed to insecure using the Strange Situation paradigm generally look more competent as toddlers, preschoolers, and even as children beginning public school. This does not indicate that individual differences in the security of attachment are deterministic of later development, but rather that theoretically meaningful associations between development in infancy and later functioning have been repeatedly established in studies focusing upon socio-affective functioning. The meaning of attachment disorder associated on the basis of attachment theory stipulates that feelings of security and control when grow out of the infant-mother relationship contribute to the regulation of 'attachment affect' or 'disorder' where the establishment of other social relationships, and the child's negotiation of subsequent developmental tasks evaluate the extent to which the child is affected from the disorder. Many researchers argue that misconceptions attributed to attachment theory do not support the basic assumption of guiding attachment research in context with the relationship between mother and infant. Reactive Attachment Disorder The diagnosis of attachment disorder is based upon the scientific enquiry and is described as ICD-10, Reactive Attachment Disorder or RAD that marks the severe disorders of attachment affecting children. RAD takes place whenever the process of developing relationships starts perturbing, thereby finding it very difficult to maintain social relations. The RAD analyzes disorders that evolve from distortions in the adaptive functioning of anxiety in early development. Anxiety serves as indicator to this disorder that prompts infant distress signals and proximity-seeking behaviour that, in turn, elicits regulatory assistance from the caregiver, reducing the likelihood of harm. Thus in order to avoid RAD, separation distress may be adaptive in the context of responsive, sensitive care giving. Clinical implications of attachment disorder provide significant insight into the common foundations of typical and atypical development which can be described at multiple levels. On the level of behavioural systems, the disorder includes the coordination of attachment to be explored and affiliated, on the level of social and emotional interactive behaviour patterns it requires mixing avoidance with resistance, distress with avoidance, etc. and on the level of specific behavioural indices it includes the symptoms of lying prone during reunion, covering mouth or ears when caregiver approaches, dazed facial expression (Barnett & Vondra, 1999, p. 12). Attachment disorder prevails where the child's developmental period experiences maternal stress accounted for declines in sensitivity and where social support is related to increase in maternal sensitivity. As a result, the child is influenced under the quality of care giving that relates to child adaptation across periods of early development. Research suggests that continuity in attachment classification between 12 and 18 months is found for 60% of the sample in infancy where change in classification from anxious to secure for boys is related to improvement in mother-child interactions, increased stability in mothers' close relationships, and decreases in life stress whereas for girls, discontinuity is related to maternal personality characteristics (Atkinson & Goldberg, 2004, p. 30). RAD affects Relationship Patters Relationships are build from infancy are carried forward as characteristic modes of affective regulation and core expectations, attitudes, and beliefs. RAD serves to hinder the relationships as the variations and distortions in early regulatory patterns provide the basis for differences in strategies for coping with normative stresses, eliciting support from others, and making use of internal signals (Carlson & Sroufe, 1995). The result is the disturbance in understanding society for the individuals which proceed with histories of insecure attachment that may be more likely to form relationships that are unsupportive and easily disrupted. RAD when persists among children, induces an avoidant history full of early experiences that support a view of the self as unworthy of care and unable to achieve emotional closeness and a behavioural style of isolation. Therefore negative emotions with a history of unpredictable or inconsistent care giving experiences disrupt rather than restoring relationships, inhibiting the development of stable close relationships. Disinhibited Attachment Disorder Disinhibited Attachment Disorder or DAD as described by ICD-10 is a specific set of abnormal patterns of social functioning that takes place within the first five years of child's life and persists and develops according to the environmental circumstances that include non-selection attachment behaviour, attention-seeking attitude and indiscriminately friendly behaviour marked by poor peer interactions. It also forges emotional or behavioural disturbances among children and adults. DAD brings anxiety and children resulting from attachment disorder are found to have poorer social skills than securely attached infants in preschool. While analyzing children's behaviour it was noted from the teacher ratings that anxious-avoidant children are withdrawn and give up easily compared with securely attached children, and are more hostile than anxious-resistant children, with more exhibitionistic and impulsive qualities than children in either the secure or anxious-resistant groups. The longitudinal study indicated that children with histories of secure attachment who were also functioning well in middle childhood consistently received significantly higher ratings of social competence and lower ratings of psychopathology than all other groups. Similarly children having an insecure background and behaviour problems in middle childhood received lower ratings of social competence and higher ratings of psychopathology than all other adolescent groups. Therefore it was noted that the two groups of children with mixed histories 'secure attachment and later behaviour problems or insecure attachment and later positive functioning' were comparable with respect to adolescent competence and behaviour problems. Intervention The early relationship experience whether it depicts the increased likelihood of negative child outcomes resulting from an anxious parent-infant attachment relationship or the positive developmental outcomes associated with secure attachment provides a strong rationale for attachment based interventions for the purpose of preventing later behaviour problems and psychopathology. Attachment interventions for parents and their infants exist, and, like parenting interventions in general, they are quite varied in terms of program approach and goals, recipient of program services, method of service delivery, and quantity and timing of services as well as characteristics and training of interveners (Egeland, Weinfield, Bosquet, & Cheng, 2001). There are also broad-based, comprehensive attachment-based interventions such as STEEP (Steps Toward Effective Enjoyable Parenting) that incorporate components related to maternal representation, maternal sensitivity, and social support. STEEP is an effective program that not only focuses on what precautions they should take in developing children's positive attitude towards the society but also helps parents' perspective taking, including their beliefs, expectations, and understanding of the baby and their relationship with their baby. Works Cited Atkinson Leslie & Goldberg Susan, (2004) Attachment Issues in Psychopathology and Intervention: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Barnett, D. & Vondra, J (1999) "Atypical patterns of attachment in infancy and early childhood among children at developmental risk" In: Society for Research in Child Development: Malden, MA: Blackwell. Belsky Jay & Nezworski Teresa, (1988) Clinical Implications of Attachment: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ. Carlson, E. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (1995) "The contribution of attachment theory to developmental psychopathology" In: Developmental processes and psychopathology: Vol. 1. Theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches (pp. 581-617]). New York: Cambridge University Press. Egeland, B., Weinfield, N. S., Bosquet, M., & Cheng, V. K. (2001) "Remembering, repeating and working through: Lessons from attachment-based interventions" In: Infant mental health in groups at high risk (Vol. 4, pp. 35-89]). New York: Wiley. 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