Children emotional bonds

1. Attachment is the close emotional bond created between children and their caregivers, guardians, or parents. It constitutes the foundation of all other relationships in both children’s and adult lives. The attachment children develop with their parents can greatly influence their adult lives, especially in intimate relationships. Children exhibit different types of attachment behavior that include smiling, gestures, and clinging. The way parents respond to these signals and behavior go a long way towards keeping and maintaining a close relationship with their children. It is also important to note that the separation of children from their carers or parents can occasion anxiety, and this is best explained by the behaviors they display.

The way parents respond to their children’s needs plays a pivotal role in determining the bond they develop in their adult lives. The major styles of attachment often developed by children include secure, anxious, and avoidant attachments. Secure children are easily comfortable with themselves even when their parents leave them alone in a room. A child with an anxious and insecure attachment becomes extremely uncomfortable and distressed when separated from their parents, and are difficult to calm down after reuniting with the parent. A child with an avoidant style of attachment will not be distressed when separated from the parents and will become indifferent to the parent upon reuniting. These attachment styles depend on how the parents respond to the needs of the children.

2. Attachment styles manifest in daily interaction between parents and their children. Parents adapt different parenting styles for their children depending on many factors. Of importance, however, is to provide practical examples of the attachment styles. For instance, a parent who responds actively to the needs of their children, especially through comfort and touch, will likely make their children feel more secure than parents who do not. On the other hand, insecure children who are both anxious and avoidant tend to have parents who are not sensitive to their needs or reject the children in the provision of care.
3. The knowledge of attachment styles greatly influences my future career as a child psychologist. Further, attachment styles will help me work with parents to help them understand the psychological needs of their children, as well as how their parenting styles, socio-emotional changes, and social settings influence the development pattern of their children. As a child psychologist, the knowledge of attachment styles and the influence they have on children will help me work with parents to assess, intervene, and develop strategies that help them build strong bonds with their children.
4. It is important for people to learn about attachment styles because it helps them understand the reason they react in certain ways in their various interactions. This knowledge enables adults to provide an environment where children can feel secure and safe when they feel distressed. This awareness can heighten individuals’ sensitivity to how they relate with and care for children.
5. Learning about attachment styles has helped me understand that the behavioral characteristic people exhibit is for the most part based on their socialization and the type of parenting style they had. In intimate relationships, for instance, I now understand that partners who have unstable self-esteem, self-doubt, jealousy, and are untrusting behave in the manner they do because of the attachment style they had with their parents. On the other hand, I am cognizant that partners who have high self-esteem, optimistic, and supportive have secure attachment styles because their parents responded actively to their needs during childhood.