How Does Your Understanding of Attachment Theory and Maternal Deprivation Inform Your Understanding of Nursing/Midwifery Practice?

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

However, Rutter’s Romanian orphan study suggests that mothers are not special in the way Bolby believed. Infants displayed a range of attachment behaviour towards attachment figures other than their mothers and there isn’t any particular attachment behaviour that was exclusive to their mom. Schaffer and Emerson as well, found multiple attachments are the norm, in fact 39% of children had their main attachment to someone else than the main carer. These two findings undermine Bowlby’s theory.

If the mother is not available for that special attachment then the infant could attach to a mother-substitute, this attachment relationship is the prototype for all future relationships. Forming this special attachment is believed to build up an internal working model or to help them template for their future relationships. The internal working model can be changed as the infant develops new types of relationships to others, contact and attachments with a variety of people can lead to a fully developed internal working model. The internal working model is the vital part of forming

Attachment is an emotional bond that is created between one person to another across a life span. Attachment can be a connection between two individuals, but it is a bond that involves a regular contact with that person and also expressed distress when separated from that person. Also, attachment can play an important role during childhood, adolescent and romantic relationships. Attachment tends to be enduring and meaningful because it can last for a long time between people. However, being attached can motivate children to stay close to people that they love. Attachment can also help people build emotional bond between each others, that can have a secure base so that people can safely explore their environment. Although studies have shown that children who are securely attached can also develop an increase of independence and confidence. Meanwhile, children who are not securely attached can develop risks such as poor internal working models in life.

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). Likewise, attachment theory is a psychological model that seeks to illustrate the dynamics of both long term and short- term interpersonal relationships (Waters, E.; Corcoran, D.; Anafarta, M. 2005). Additionally, attachment theory address how people respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or when they perceive a threat (Waters et al., 2005). Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). The theory predominantly draws on the ideas from doctrines such as, ethology, cybernetics, information processing and developmental psychology (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). It is considered that attachment theory has revolutionized the way society thinks about the relationship between the mother and her child and the importance of

1d.) The researcher is seeking information regarding the process of maternal development in four domains in this research study. They include: focus, ownership, caregiving, and voice. The results in the focus domain showed that initially a mother with an infant in the NICU is focused on the technology that abounds in the NICU, not her infant. The expertise of the nurses and the language and culture of the surrounding staff also gained most of her attention while the care of her infant was forced into the background. Progression along the focus continuum allowed the fading of technology over time, which allowed the mother to focus fully on her infant. The ownership domain results were in regard to the mother’s view of her relationship with her infant. Overall, the results showed that most mothers considered the infant as belonging to the nurse. The actuality

For this interview project paper, I chose childbirth as my topic because it is related to the field that I want to pursue in my future career and I wanted to explore more about it. Having said that, I was given an opportunity to create my own questions that were correlated with childbirth and its relations to the domains of human development. I had the opportunity to interview a woman in her early adulthood, who recently gave birth to their second child here in Rockville, Maryland. After one hour of interviewing her over the phone, I was able to developed my thesis, introduction, supporting details, and conclusion for my paper based on my interviewee’s responses and experience about childbirth.

When a person becomes a parent, their role in life undoubtedly changes. The person must become a teacher, a guide, and a helping hand in the life of the child. Research has shown that there is a distinct connection between how a child is raised and their overall developmental outcome. John Bowlby’s attachment theory emphasizes the importance of the regular and sustained contact between the parent-infant or parent-child relationship (Travis & Waul 2003). Yet, what happens when the only physical contact a child can share with their parent is a hand pressed on the shield of glass that separates the two? What happens when the last memory of their mother or father was from the corner of their own living room as they watched their parent

Attachment theory was developed by a collaboration of experiments by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth stretching from 1907-1990. John Bowlby feels that “Attachment theory is based off the theory that babies are born into this world with an attachment and emotional bond to one most significant person”. (Bowlby, 2007) The

There are a number of influences that contribute to the formation of attachments and the differences among individuals. One influence on attachment is the amount of time a caregiver spends with an infant. The amount of time can be affected by the age, health, and social status of the mother. For example, a younger, teenage mother, may return to school in order to complete their education. Returning to school can preoccupy a mother and create a disconnect when an infant’s distress and behaviors are not attended to or ignored. Another example of how the amount of time spent with an infant can be affected is a single-mother or a mother who returns to work within the sensitive time of an infant’s development. Similar to the younger mother example,

The current study is influenced heavily by the work of both John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, who laid the foundation of modern attachment theory through their studies of children and caregivers. Attachment theory is generally defined as a psychological model that attempts to describe dynamics of human, interpersonal relationships through the breakdown of attachment into three distinct

Spending a few days with the newborn, doesn’t give adequate time for the mother to structure any type of connection with the child. The first months of the baby’s life are essential for its progress. In the later years when it’s time for the mother to come home, she and the child are strangers. Not having developed that bond at an early age causes the child to be unfamiliar with its own mother, which leads to long term sentimental and conduct issues.

Women begin to have a bond with their child far before the child is born. Creating a life inside them, a woman usually feels the bond that is mother and child before the baby comes into the world. After the baby is born, a mother can feel that she is losing a part of herself when her baby becomes a separate being rather than being a part of her. Breastfeeding helps strengthen not only the bond but can also have a positive influence on the mother and child emotionally and mentally. A study

PART 1 What is nursing theory? How does nursing theory differ from theories of other disciplines? How does nursing theory relate to nursing practice?

John Bowlby, a British psychologist (1907 to 1990) coined the term attachment. He was a psychiatrist and his influences were Freud, Melanie Klein and Lorenz. Bowlby’s attachment theory suggests that children come into the world biologically pre- programmed to form attachments with others as this will help them survive.