ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents an up-to-date summary of key conclusions from attachment theory and associated research. It describes the background to John Bowlby’s formulation of attachment theory. The book discusses how observations of hospitalised children in the 1940s shaped Bowlby’s thinking about the importance of continuity in child-caregiver contact. It outlines the typical development of attachment behaviour during the first few years of life, including how infants gradually become selective in who they direct their signalling behaviours to when distressed. The book explores the way Mary Ainsworth conceptualised and measured caregiver sensitivity and child-caregiver attachment quality. It considers children’s different attachment relationships and how these may become integrated into generalised expectations about others. The book draws out the contribution of both observational and narrative assessments of individual differences in attachment for understanding children’s maturation and relationships.
