The relationship between childhood and later life Matt Jarvis

The issue Is the child father to the man? In other words, can we predict what someone will be like as an adult based on their childhood experiences?

Understanding the relationship Freud inspired Bowlby Bowlby’s attachment theory Freud’s psychoanalytic theory Approaches Classifying attachment has allowed us to test Bowlby’s ideas Individual differences perspective Research linking attachment type to later development

Freud’s approach The critical factor in childhood is the three-way relationship between a child and its parents. This is called the Oedipus complex. If parents manage this badly, the child’s development will be affected.

Bowlby’s approach The critical factor in childhood is the child’s first relationship. This develops with the primary carer across the first few months of life. Failure to form a secure attachment leads to problems in emotional and cognitive development.

Classifying attachment type Bowlby’s student Mary Ainsworth developed a scientific way to classify the security of children’s attachments to their carers. This allowed psychologists to test the relationship between infant attachment and later development. Type A: avoidant. Low in both the strength of attachment and anxiety. Type B: secure. High in attachment strength, low in anxiety. Type C: resistant. High in both attachment strength and anxiety.

Research into consequences of infant attachment types Main & Cassidy (1988): children classified as secure as infants tended to have better peer relationships in later childhood. Hazan & Shaver (1987): adults who reported secure attachments to their parents were more likely to have romantic relationships with secure characteristics.

The role of individual differences Early experiences like attachment formation are not the only important influence on development. Nor do they happen equally easily for all children. This is because of temperament. This is the genetically influenced aspects of the child’s personality. A child may be born with a highly anxious or irritable temperament. This will make them harder to form a secure attachment to, and may always affect their social behaviour even if they form a secure attachment.