Defining the caregiving system: Toward a theory of caregiving

Communicating Feelings: Links Between Mothers' Representations of Their Infants, Parenting, and Infant Emotional Development

“…As reflected in the current volume, however, an area that has been receiving increased attention over recent years is the role of parents' internal working models of parenting, or of their child and relationship with their child, as predictors of parental behavior with the child (Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman, 2000;Slade, Belsky, Aber, & Phelps, 1999;Solomon & George, 1996). Researchers have argued for the importance of considering the unique role of the caregiving system, a complementary behavioral system to the infants' attachment system (Solomon & George, 1996).…”

“…Researchers have argued for the importance of considering the unique role of the caregiving system, a complementary behavioral system to the infants' attachment system (Solomon & George, 1996). While research evidence does support the influence of the parent's representation of early caregiving experiences on infant attachment security, these representations are more distal to the parent-child relationship than the caregiver's representation of his or her own child or of parenting.…”

“…While research evidence does support the influence of the parent's representation of early caregiving experiences on infant attachment security, these representations are more distal to the parent-child relationship than the caregiver's representation of his or her own child or of parenting. George and Solomon (1996) suggest that during adolescence the individual begins to develop a representation of self as caregiver that is rooted in, or influenced by, the internal working model of early relationships (i.e., their AAI classifications). Evidence suggests that these working models are not redundant, but rather that attachment and caregiving reflect parallel yet distinct behavioral systems.…”

“…For example, during infancy emotional stimuli (e.g., fear reactions/distress) trigger the need for proximity seeking, and infant attachment security reflects, at least in part, the ability to express both positive and negative emotion in the presence of the primary attachment figure with the (assumed) expectation that emotional and safety needs will be met (Bowlby, 1969;Thompson & Lamb, 1984 ). Parenting is also an inherently emotion-laden process (Dix, 1991), and the caregiving system is similarly activated by emotion (e.g., infant distress promotes parent emotional response that, in tum, triggers caregiving behavior) (Solomon & George, 1996).…”

‘Me and my Bump’: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of pregnancy for vulnerable women

“…Prenatal attachment has been found to correlate positively with postnatal attachment (Muller, 1996), which is known to be crucial for optimal social, emotional and cognitive development in childhood (Solomon & George, 1996;Van Ijzendoorn, Schuengel & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 1999;Fonagy, Gergely & Target, 2007). Conceptual frameworks for prenatal attachment (e.g.…”