Bowlby (973; 980) notes that attachments between caretakers and children begin at infancy. Children learn how to maximise and maintain proximity and elicit protection and care through their own perception of their caregiver (Bowlby, 980). The attachment theory was mainly contributed to by Ainsworth, which displays the concept of the parent acting as a secure base that allows the infant to explore. Secure attachment has been linked to positive developmental outcomes, as generally these infants tend to have better social-emotional outcomes compared to those infants who are insecurely attached (Ramsdal, Bergvik, & Winn, 205). The quality of the relationship and attachment between parents and children is important for the social-emotional development of that child, and if this attachment is detrimental it can have great consequences later in life (van der Voort, Femmie Juffer, and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 204). Children feel confident to experience and explore if they are assured in their attachment figures, providing a system that regulates proximity and exploratory needs (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007).
There has been in-depth research into this topic as it is essential to development. Secure-attachment is the most desirable attachment style, this being characterised as a positiv
e outlook on oneself, and others inclusive of relationships. Researchers have outlined four attachment styles being secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganised and anxious-avoidant (Ainsworth, Belhar, Waters, & Wall, 978). Anxious-ambivalent attachment arises if the infant is separated from the caregiver and is not comforted upon their return, where as anxious-avoidant attachment occurs if the infant avoids the caregivers. (Ainsworth et al., 978). Disorganised attachment is simply when there is a lack of behavioural attachment. In order to develop the secure attachment style (the most desirable), sensitive parenting is crucial (Ainsworth et al., 978). The literature explores the benefits of this attachment style with thorough research into later life aspects such as relationships with peers, emotion regulation, and behavioural adjustment. Majority of the literature uses methods to assess peer competence such as questionnaires from parents, teachers, and/or children (Hubbs-tait, Osofsky, Hann & McDonald Culp, 994; Fagot, 997), sociometric ratings by peers either with target child, alone or in groups (Waters, Wippman, & Sroufe, 978), or dyads coded by trained observers (Park & Waters, 992). Many studies also make use of meta-analysis, merging data from numerous other studies.