Strengthening Families Protective Factors: Part II

1. Strengthening Families Protective Factors: Part II Niagia Williams Prevent Child Abuse Delaware 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 715 Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 425-7490

2. Protective Factors • Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development • Concrete support in times of need • Parental Resilience • Social Connections • Nurturing and Attachment • Social Emotional Competence of children

3. What do you already know about nurturing and attachment?

4. What we all need to know about attachment by the Menninger Clinicwww.youtube.com/watch?v=RdCBip-8pC8

5. Nurturing and Attachment • Nurturing is caring for and encouraging growth & development. • Attachment is the emotional security one feels in the presence & absence of a specific individual. • Attachment is an essential human need.

6. Nurturing and Attachment: Kinds of Attachment • Secure • Ambivalent • Avoidant • Not a primary classification but added later: • Disorganized

7. Secure Attachment • Parent: tend to play more with their child; emotionally available, perceptive and responsive to infant’s needs and mental states, consistent • Child: become visibly upset when caregiver leave and are happy when they return, but able to be comforted by others; prefer parents to others; expects that their need will be met; use caregiver as base • Child as an adult: trusting, long term relationships, high self esteem, seek out social support, ability to share feeling with other people

8. Ambivalent Attachment • Parent: inconsistently available to child; unpredictable, chaotic, may be attentive but out of sync with baby • Child: suspicious of strangers, display considerable distress when separated from caregiver, but aren’t very comforted by their return, cries a lot, clingy, demanding, angry • Child as an adult: reluctant about becoming close to others, clingy and over-dependent, frequent breakups, very distraught at the end of relationships, may cling to young children as a source of security

9. Avoidant • Parent: emotionally unavailable or rejecting; dislikes neediness; dismissive and non-responsive when child was emotionally needy • Child: avoid caregiver; random aggression; may not reject attention from caregiver, but does not seek out comfort or contact; no preference between caregiver and strangers; unresponsive when held, but upset when put down • Child as an Adult: difficulty with intimacy and close relationships, don’t invest much emotion; failure to support partner during stressful times; inability to share emotions, thoughts, and feelings

10. Disorganized • Parent: absent, abusive, negligent or maltreats child; may act as figure of fear and reassurance to child • Child: lack of clear attachment behavior; mix of behaviors (both ambivalent and avoidant); may be confused and apprehensive in the presence of caregiver; as they grow older may take on parenting role • Child as an adult: difficulty expressing themselves coherently; may have unhealthy ways to self-soothe; difficulty trusting others

11. What happens if attachment doesn’t happen? • Reactive attachment disorder develops because the child's basic needs for comfort, affection and nurturing aren't met and loving, caring attachments with others are never established. • This may permanently change the child's growing brain, hurting the ability to establish future relationships. • Reactive attachment disorder is a lifelong condition, but with treatment children can develop more stable and healthy relationships with caregivers and others. Safe and proven treatments for reactive attachment disorder include psychological counseling and parent or caregiver education.

12. What happens if attachment doesn’t happen? Reactive attachment disorder begins before age 5. Signs and symptoms of the disorder may begin when the child is still an infant. Signs and symptoms in babies may include: •Withdrawn, sad and listless appearance •Failure to smile •Lack of the normal tendency to follow others in the room with the eyes •Failure to reach out when picked up •No interest in playing peekaboo or other interactive games •No interest in playing with toys •Engaging in self-soothing behavior, such as rocking or self-stroking •Calm when left alone

13. What happens if attachment doesn’t happen? Signs and symptoms in toddlers, older children and adolescents may include: •Withdrawing from others •Avoiding or dismissing comforting comments or gestures •Acting aggressively toward peers •Watching others closely but not engaging in social interaction •Failing to ask for support or assistance •Obvious and consistent awkwardness or discomfort •Masking feelings of anger or distress •Alcohol or drug abuse in adolescents

14. What happens if attachment doesn’t happen? As children with reactive attachment disorder grow older, they may develop either or both of these behavior patterns: •Inhibited behavior. Children with inhibited behavior shun relationships and attachments to virtually everyone. This may happen when a baby never has the chance to develop an attachment to any caregiver. •Disinhibited behavior. Children with disinhibited behavior seek attention from virtually everyone, including strangers. This may happen when a baby has multiple caregivers or frequent changes in caregivers. Children with this type of reactive attachment disorder may frequently ask for help doing tasks, have inappropriately childish behavior or appear anxious.

15. What happens if attachment doesn’t happen? There's little research on signs and symptoms of reactive attachment disorder beyond early childhood. It may lead to controlling, aggressive or delinquent behaviors, trouble relating to peers, and other problems. While treatment can help children and adults cope with reactive attachment disorder, the changes that occur during early childhood are permanent and the disorder is a lifelong challenge.

16. Adult actions that support attachment • Be actively engaged with your child in your care by playing, talking to him or her, making eye contact, or smiling often, for example. • Learn to interpret your baby's cues, such as different types of cries, so that you can meet his or her needs quickly and effectively. • Respond to your child’s cues and needs. • Provide warm, nurturing interaction with your baby or child, such as during feeding, bathing or changing diapers. • Teach children how to express feelings and emotions with words rather than by acting out. Lead by example. • Offer both verbal and nonverbal responses to the child's feelings through touch, facial expressions and tone of voice. • If you're an adult with attachment problems, get help — it's not too late. Seeing a mental health provider not only may help you, but also may prevent you from having attachment problems with your children.

17. How would you explain nurturing and attachment to your families in simple, easy-to-understand language? What educational resources do you use with parents on this topic that you think are effective?

18. Nurturing and Attachment Do you help parents think about these questions: • How do you Nurture yourself? • How do you get your needs met? • Physical • Social • Emotional • Intellectual • Creative • Spiritual

19. Nurturing and Attachment connection to: Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development When a parent understands child development they are also able to understand the importance of nurturing and attachment and how it fits into the healthy development of that child

20. Nurturing and Attachment connection to: Concrete Support in Times of Need When parents needs something and receive it they are better able to continue to nurture their child and fulfill the need of a healthy attachment for their child.

21. Nurturing and Attachment connection to: Parental Resilience When parents are able to effectively manage stressors, they are being resilient. By managing stressors they feel better and can provide more nurturing attention to their child, which enables their child to form a secure emotional attachment.

22. Nurturing and Attachment connection to: Social Connections Parents must nurture themselves and having social connections is one way to meet that need.

23. Nurturing and Attachment connection to: Social-Emotional Competence of Children A child’s social emotional development depends on the quality of nurturing attachment and stimulation that a child experiences.

24. What do you do to enhance Nurturing and Attachment in the families that you serve?