Attachment Theory

The relationship between mother and infant has always been known to have a significant and lasting impact on baby’s relationship with mother; these interactions will more importantly create the emotional structure for many future relationships to come. Snyder, R., Shapiro, S., and Treleaven, D. (2012) deal with effective ways in which to enhance the mother’s ability to raise one’s child with the proper attachment levels to ensure a healthy adulthood follows. Meditation and mindfulness is a mode experimented with and proven to assist in levels of less stress and better coping for a mother amidst a significant change in social roles. This research will be helpful in contributing to the psychological necessities of new mothers while assessing the impact of meditation on attachment capabilities.   More research found in a study by Reinherz, H. Z., Paradis, A. D., Giaconia, R. M., Stashwick, C. K., and Fitzmaurice, G. (2003) displayed a connection between levels of depression assessed in earlier childhood stages and teenage years with a higher depression rating in the early adulthood transition years. Reinherz, H. Z. et al. (2003) also found that the experience of depression during the early adulthood transition was more likely to lead to depressed outlooks in adulthood; these individuals also struggle more with the journey to finding occupations that were valuable to them as well as meaningful romantic and other interpersonal relationships.

The video link above (Greenbaum, 2012) discusses how valuable the connection each individual has with their parent and how much that impacts the process of growing up. Depending on which attachment type is found between primary caregiver and child (ambivalent, avoidant, disorganized, or optimal) usually affects the type of romantic relationship that the “child” will go on and manifest as an adult. Parents hold a large responsibility in taking care of themselves and appropriately dealing with their own emotions so as to positively impact their kids- if not, the attachment type will only continue to be passed down the line and be exhibited in the child’s romantic encounters. For example, if a child grew up in an environment with avoidant attachment in which their caregiver did not exhibit physical touch or emotional response when needed, this type of child will grow up with anxiety and insecurities regarding future lovers. They may seek out someone who is abusive and neglecting, or become disengaged, removed, and apathetic to the relationship and reality (Snyder, et al., 2012).

Which attachment theory do you think is most likely to occur with parents of the millennial age?   What is the rationale behind this assumption and if it is a negative type of attachment, how can it best be improved upon?