Parenting attachment styles and children mental health

Abstract

The attachment relationship is a significant, long-lasting bond of both an affective and emotional nature, which is created regardless of whether the parent is able to emotionally tune in to the child. Poor social-emotional competence of the caregiver has been associated with several types of dysfunctional developmental trajectories including poor ability in the school performance of the offspring. Attachment styles, parenting stress, and exposure to adverse childhood events can negatively affect the development of biological systems that regulate cognitive abilities such as executive functions (EF), the perception and the regulation of emotions. Neuroscience has highlighted the centrality of limbic circuits in the development of parent-child attachment bonds, human adaptation and learning processes, as well as highlighting the influence of attachment styles on the development of an adequate sense of self-efficacy and self-esteem.