Browsing by Subject "attachment"

Objectives. Attachment theory is a theory of social development and personality, known around the world. According to the theory, children have an innate tendency to develop a biologically based and central nervous system-regulated attachment bond to their primary caregivers in order to ensure safety, care, and survival. Early attachment experiences contribute to the way one sees oneself and others and lead to secure, insecure, or disorganized attachment styles, which affect rest of one’s life. Previous research has confirmed the universal nature of attachment, different attachment categories and styles, and early attachment’s links with future relationships and various internal and external problems. Attachment research has traditionally concentrated on early childhood and early childhood environments, whereas middle childhood, adolescence, and school context have been studied less. The objectives of the present study were to find out what kinds of links there are between attachment and the lives of school-aged children and youngsters, what kinds of attachment-related challenges teachers encounter at school, and how teachers could support their students with those attachment-related challenges. The aim is to explore attachment in the lives of school-aged children and youngsters, including at school, to gain a better understanding and to create a valuable foundation for future research. Methodology. The present study was conducted as a systematic literature review, which allowed the gathering of diverse and comprehensive, yet relevant research material, while also supporting objectivity and reproducibility aspects of the study. The material, available through electronic databases, was comprised of research articles from around the world, published in peer-reviewed international research journals. The material was analyzed thematically by research questions and topics, which were then used as a framework in the Results section. Results and conclusions. Early attachment and attachment styles were directly and indirectly linked to the lives of school-aged children and youngsters, including teacher-student relationships, peer relationships, family relationships, and academic achievement, as well as internal and external problems. Various attachment-related challenges and problems were visible at school, but teachers had many ways to buffer them. Current attachment research has not affected or changed school environments enough. Much more attention should be given to attachment within schools, teacher education, and in-service training programs in order to give students better support for their attachment-related problems and challenges.

Aims. Attachment has been linked to children's psychiatric symptoms. However, only a few studies have focused on parental attachment towards the child. Most studies have focused on parent's general attachment representations, which do not address the parental subjective attachment to their child. The aim of this study is to examine whether parental subjective attachment towards the child is associated with child's internalizing and externalizing symptoms and total problems. We also examine whether maternal or paternal depression, child temperament or gender affect the aforementioned associations. Methods. This study is a part of Prediction and Prevention of Pre-eclampsia (PREDO) – study. The size of the current study sample was 2021 mothers and 1273 fathers and their children. Maternal and paternal attachment were assessed with the Maternal/Paternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS/PPAS) – self report questionnaire when the child was six months old. Child's internalizing, externalizing and total problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5 (CBCL1½-5) – questionnaire when the child was 1.5 to 5 years old. The associations were investigated using linear regression analysis, controlling for maternal or paternal attachment and several sociodemographic factors related to the child and parents. Results and conclusions. Results indicated that secure maternal and paternal attachment was associated with less internalizing, externalizing and total problems in children. Parental depression and child's temperamental traits mediated the association of parental attachment and child's psychiatric symptoms. Maternal attachment was also independently associated with child's psychiatric symptoms. An interaction effect was found between maternal attachment and child's negative emotionality in relation to child's total problems: insecure maternal attachment and child's high negative emotionality were associated with more total problems in childhood. These results provide evidence that both parents' subjective attachment is related to child's psychiatric symptoms, and also highlight the significance of child's temperament in the development of psychiatric symptoms.