Health Benefits of Attachment Parenting

2013-06-18 14:46:04

Attachment parenting is thought of by many as a new ‘fad’. Simply put, it is a parenting philosophy that encourages parents to form strong emotional bonds with their child early in life in order to foster social/emotional development and overall well-being. It involves the committed parents to respond to each of their child’s needs in a loving, gentle and non-confrontational manner; and though can be quite demanding at times research is showing it is definitely worth the effort.

An interesting article published this past April in the journal Health Psychology shows an indirect link between attachment relationships in infancy and physical health years later.⁽¹⁾ The researchers followed 163 individuals over a 32 year period. They assessed attachment at ages 12 and 18 months using Ainsoworth Strange Situation Procedure ASSP) and then at age 32 assessed their physical health via a questionnaire. The findings: those with insecure attachment early in life were more likely to suffer with inflammatory illness as an adult than those with secure attachment. Other research shows insecure child-parent bonds experienced in infancy/childhood tends to set the stage for anti-social tendencies, negative self-view and personal distress later on in life.^(2,3) Contrary to what some may still believe, the health and wellbeing of a child begins very early on in life and prevention of various health conditions can and should begin as early as infancy. As Benjamin Franklin so aptly put, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.