Parental Attachment Correlates with Mental Disorder of Children

Parental Attachment Correlates with Mental Disorder of Children

Thesis Statement

“To What Extent and How Parental Attachment Correlates with Mental Disorder of Children?”

Introduction

While the bonds of attachment are necessary throughout the life cycle, are particularly crucial in early childhood, because a significant influence on the development of personality. Protective factors described by various authors, there is a consensus related to the establishment of a secure attachment with someone meaningful to the child, either his mother or other adult with whom to interact in a warm and stable, one of the most important protective factors and found to be key, both for positive child development and for the development of resilient behavior. Thus it is essential then to understand what is the role played by the attachment figure in the interaction with the child and how is that secure attachment type benefits the child development and behavior promotes resilient (Van, et al., 2007).

The evidence provided by research from the field of psychology and neuroscience indicate that the first years of life are critical in the formation of intelligence, personality and social behavior. Recent studies suggest that the brain, because of their responsiveness, i.e. plasticity environmental experience, is affected in its structure and function by it (Stelter & Halberstadt, 2011).

Sensory stimulation of the medium affects the structure and organization of neuronal connections in the brain during the formative period. So the opportunity to have complex perceptual and motor experiences in the early years will have favorable effects in several learning. These investigations show that 50% of brain growth occurs in the first 5 years of life. At this stage, there are critical periods for human brain maturation, as in the first five years, millions of cells are born, grow and connect. The structure and organization of these connections are determined by interactions with the environment, in particular, relations with others. When these processes of development, maturation and connections do not occur properly, have a negative impact on children (Van, et al., 2007).

This is explained because in the cerebral cortex, different regions increase in size (with increasing number of dendrites in each neuron) when exposed to stimulating conditions and while these longer, the greater its growth. This brain activity would be very thick so directed by genetically configured neural pathways, while the details in such patterns (ie, the amount and type of synaptic connections) would be largely conditioned by the interaction with the environment (Stelter & Halberstadt, 2011).

Discussion

Attachment is a concept that has been developed in the area of psychology and is described as “the mutual emotional bond and enduring in time between the child and caregiver. This means that attachment is the bond (affective, emotional connection) that is established between the child and who is responsible for his upbringing, which is generally the mother and / or father. It is characterized by being a long-lasting relationship in which both the child and caregiver contribute to the quality of the relationship. There are basically two styles of attachment, ...