Attachment

Abstract

Attachment is an enduring emotional bond that develops between two people and is characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain closeness, particularly during times of stress such as when the person is frightened, tired, or sick. Although attachment is often used to describe the relationship between infants or young children and their caregivers, attachment, as Bowlby emphasized, is an essential, lifelong need. Infants, through countless interactions, develop an internal working model of attachment, a framework of thoughts, feelings, plans, and goals that help organize their interactions in relationships with others across the lifespan. This working model of attachment that develops during the early years of life has often been associated with a wide range of children's and adults' adaptive and maladaptive socioemotional functioning and patterns of future relationships with others. Thus, attachment theory is a theory of relationships.