Effects Of Infant Attachment On Child Development - amazonia.fiocruz.br

Sigmund Freud postulated that early in life, a young infant's primary attachment object would be its mother because the mother fulfills the infant's oral desires through feeding. Male children are more likely to prefer their father as an attachment figure than female children are. Children are more likely to be attached to their father during their late childhood Develipment early adolescence. The infant's temperament can influence the role that the father plays in child rearing. A great deal of research has shown that fathers are less likely to be involved with their infant if the infant has a difficult temperament. Research on whether or not paternal sensitivity has Effects Of Infant Attachment On Child Development effect on the security of father-child attachment has produced mixed results. Some studies have shown significant correlations between paternal sensitivity and secure father-child attachments.

The level of attachment security that a father had with his parents when he was a child may influence his own child's attachment security in the sense that his child may end up Effects Of Infant Attachment On Child Development a similar level of attachment security. However, this effect is most likely to occur when the father has sole custody of his child. This is because fathers who have a secure attachment style in adult relationships tend to have lower levels of parenting stress, lower levels of abuse potential, and a greater amount of knowledge about child development. One study has found that whether or not the father's beliefs about the importance of paternal caregiving affect the security of the father-child attachment relationship depends on the temperament of the child.

Two important spousal factors have been found to have a relationship with father-infant attachment security: marital intimacy and supportive co-parenting. In the case of marital intimacy, research has shown that a higher level of marital intimacy is correlated with a more secure father-infant attachment relationship, and that deteriorating marital intimacy is correlated with negative father-child interaction.

Research has found that fathers who spend more time with their infants tend to have more positive interactions with them, which helps foster the attachment security of the infant.

Generally, research has found that, compared to mothers, fathers tend to fill more of a "play-mate" role for their children, rather than a "caregiver" role. Various studies have found that fathers are more likely than mothers to encourage risk-taking and exploration in their children by engaging their young children in physical play and initiating games that are both unpredictable and enjoyable. However, when fathers are required to act as caregivers for their child, such as in situations when the mother is working, they soon become very capable in fulfilling all of the responsibilities that traditionally belong to the mother, and they even begin to serve as a secure base for their child when the child explores its environment. Children who have a secure attachment to their father tend to have improved developmental outcomes in a variety Effects Of Infant Attachment On Child Development ways including having improved social abilities with their peers, having fewer problem behaviours, and the paternal effects on developing a greater level of emotional self-regulation are especially significant.

One study has found that paternal absence has various negative effects on children.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Infancy in Uganda: Infant care and the growth of attachment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Primary attachment to parents and peers during adolescence: Differences by attachment style. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30 6— Hierarchies of attachment relationships in young adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14 5— New directions in father attachment. Social and personality development. Caring for infant daughters and sons in dual-earner households: Maternal reports of father involvement in weekday time and tasks.

Infant and Child Development, 11, — Child characteristics, parenting stress, and parental involvement: Father versus mothers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, — Multiple determinants of father involvement during infancy in dual-earner and single-earner families.]