Bonding/Attachment Disorders in Maltreated Kids
Lifelong Effects of Insecure Attachment on Growth and Development
Sep 27, 2009
Attachment is described as the process of bonding between an infant’s primary caretaker, usually the mother, and the infant. Infants are helpless from birth, and need consistent, loving responses to their needs for food, sleep and comfort. As the infant grows, so does the bond of trust with the primary caregiver. Secure attachment has a lifelong effect on growth, development, trust and relationships (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect Child Maltreatment Fact Sheet, 2006).
The most important relationship in a child's life is the attachment to his or her primary caregiver — optimally, the mother. Healthy attachment to the mother built by repetitive bonding experiences during infancy provides the solid foundation for future healthy relationships.
When infants and young children have a loving caregiver consistently responding to their needs, they build a secure attachment. This lifelong bond affects growth, development, trust and the ability to build relationships. However, severely confusing, frightening and isolating emotional experiences early in life disrupts this bond, creating insecure attachment. In extreme circumstances, this can result in attachment disorders.
Influence of Abuse and Neglect on Attachment
The problems that result from an insecure attachment can range from mild interpersonal discomfort to profound social and emotional problems. In general, the severity of problems is related to how early in life, how prolonged, and how severe the emotional neglect has been.
“Previously secure attachments can change suddenly following abuse and neglect. Since attachment is a fundamental part of children’s development that affects the growing brain, children may have trouble with learning, may be aggressive and act out, be excessively clingy, have difficulty making friends, suffer anxiety or depression, or be developmentally delayed,” says a 1998 Journal of Trauma article entitled “Violence Against Children: Physical Abuse in the United States.”
Problems Seen in Maltreated Children with Attachment Problems
Some children will have profound and obvious problems, while some will have very subtle problems that you may not realize are related to early life neglect. Sometimes these children do not appear to have been affected by their experiences. There are some clues that experienced clinicians consider when working with such children; these are listed below.
- Developmental delays: Children experiencing emotional neglect in early childhood often have developmental delay. Lack of consistent and enriched experiences in early childhood can result in delays in motor, language, social, and cognitive development.
- Eating: Odd eating behaviors are common, especially in children with severe neglect and attachment problems. They will hoard food, hide food in their rooms, or eat as if there will be no more meals even if they have had years of consistent available foods. They may have failure to thrive, rumination (throwing up food), swallowing problems and, later in life, odd eating behaviors that are often misdiagnosed as anorexia nervosa
- Soothing behaviour: These children will use very primitive and immature soothing behaviours. Children may bite themselves, head bang, rock, chant, scratch, or cut themselves.
- Emotional functioning: Children may seek attachments — any attachments — for their safety.
- Inappropriate modeling: Children model adult behaviour — even if it is abusive. Maltreated children learn that abusive behaviour is the "right" way to interact with others. Problems in social interactions can potentially arise.
- Aggression: One of the major problems with these children is aggression and cruelty. They really do not understand or feel what it is like for others when they do or say something hurtful. Indeed, these children often feel compelled to lash out and hurt others — most typically something less powerful than they are.
Bonding experiences lead to healthy attachments and healthy attachment capabilities when they are provided in the earliest years of life. During the first three years of life, the human brain develops to 90 percent of adult size and puts in place the majority of systems and structures that will be responsible for all future emotional, behavioural, social, and physiological functioning during the rest of life (Journal of Trauma).
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