Infants and Young Childrens Susceptibility to Environmental Adversity - Term Paper Example

Infant psychology Infants And Young Children Are Differentially Susceptible To Environmental Adversity. Name: Course: Institution: Instructor: Date: Introduction Young children and infants have showed significant differences in behavior though their brains are relatively undeveloped and their interaction with the environment relatively new. For a long time, researchers have viewed children as products of the environment which means that they are shaped by the environment. This led to the assumption that a given environment has a given outcome on infants who were perceived as passive players. However, a different group of scholars led by Gregor Mendel observed differences in infants that were passed from parents to their offspring to give rise to the study of genetics. The scholars thus viewed that behavior in infants and young children was a product of genetic influences and the environment. This is based on the argument that children are different based on their genetic composition. Furthermore, the reaction, and adaptation to the environmental adversities have attracted considerable scholarly interest. Some researchers have argued that infants and young children are differentially susceptible to environmental adversity. This paper uses current literature to ascertain whether there is evidence of such claims with a special interest on attachment in infants and young children. Discussion Development is both a product of nature and nurture. Behavior in infants and young children is hard to assess when compared to adults. Peterson (2004 p. 81) indicates that for a person to predict the behavior of an infant, there is need for information on the genetic composition, usually drawn from parents’ characteristics and the nurturing environment i.e. gene x environment (G x E). However, the nurturing environment does not usually have the same impact on even infants with near similar genetic composition such as twins. Zeanah and Fox (2004p.32) note that attachment disorders in infants and young children, such as Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) are attributed to abnormal caregiving environments by the world Health organization. However, this approach does not acknowledge that child characteristics influences vulnerability to the attachment disorder. Obradović and Boyce (2009, 301) indicate that there are considerable differences in how children adapt to exposure of environmental adversity. There are three common levels of assessing individuals’ sensitivity to environmental adversities namely; behavioral, physiological, and genetic. Nonetheless, development disorders such as RAD are more prevalent among young children and infants from high risk families through their adaptation to both low and high levels of adversity differ. Are the differences in adaptation caused by different temperamental dispositions? Do different temperamental disposition create a different experience and interaction with the adversity? To answer these questions, there is need to determine the specific interactive histories and assess putative biological differences at birth. With no data available to answer such questions, it is necessary to understand how individual differences in temperamental dispositions may lead to the behavioral patterns presently defined as clinical disorders of attachment and also the constructs of temperament and attachment and how they are related. Temperament Zeanah and Fox (2004, p 33) define temperament “behavioral style exhibited by infants or young children in response to a range of stimuli and contexts.” It refers to the “how” in the behavior of infants. For instance, many infants will respond to a banging door or flashing lights but they will not all react in the same manner. Nine dimensions are used to classify temperament namely activity level, rhythm or regularity of functioning, approach-withdrawal in new/strange situations, intensity of emotional expression, adaptability to changes in routine, persistence, overall valence of mood, distractibility or soothability, and threshold of sensory responsiveness. Attachment Egeland defines attachment as the “the affective bond that develops between an infant and caregiver” (2004, p. 1). Bowlby (1982, p. 371) offers a deeper definition to say that attachment is the link that makes a child or infant "strongly disposed to seek proximity to and contact with a specific figure and to do so in certain situations, notably when he is frightened, tired or ill" (Zeanah & Fox, 2004, p. 4). In other words, attachment is the organization of behavior among infants and young children that makes want to seek physical proximity to a preferred individual in search of support, comfort for distress, nurturance, and protection from danger among others. While newborns can recognize their mothers through smell and sound, they are unable to express preference for a particular individual. Between two and seven months, infants are more open to experimenting by interacting with different individuals both familiar and unfamiliar. At about 7-9 months, infants exhibit discretion towards unfamiliar individuals and protest separation from familiar ones. At this stage, the infant is aid to be ‘attached’. The attachment figures are arranged in a hierarchical manner usually depending on amount of interactions that give result in strength or preference. Relationship between attachment and temperament There are notable biological individual differences in newborns in self-regulation of arousal and distress that have an immediate impact on parents. These capabilities are defined by dimensions such as soothability, irritability, and negative emotionality. Over the years, there have been two approaches on the role of infant temperament in formation of attachment and relationships from an early age onwards. Attachment theorists argue that temperament has no direct effect on the quality of attachment and relationships formed since caregivers have the capacity to moderate extreme characteristics. For instance, sensitive caregivers can easily pacify a difficult temperament. Temperament researchers on the other hand argue that infant-caregiver interactions in the strange situation do not explain the quality of the relationship but rather illustrate the infant’s temperament. Mangelsdorf and Frosch (cited in Gervai 2009) claim that the degree of influence that infant temperament has on infant-caregiver attachment is indirect and can be regulated by other maternal variables. Vaughn and Bost (1999, cited in Gervai 2009) show that temperament and attachment are different constructs and the differences in their relationships are based on different conceptualization of the two. A study by O’Connor and Croft (2001 cited in Bakermans-Kranenburg & IJzendoorn, 2007) to assess the role of temperament on attachment on 43 month old twin pairs under the strange situation procedure showed a modest influence on genetics at 14% shared (32%) and non-shared (53%) environment. However, there was no evidence on the role of temperamental difference between the twins on explaining attachment similarities and differences between them and their caregivers. Quality of child care Quality of childcare has often been overlooked in its contribution to genetic differential susceptibility. This is because most studies measure environmental adversity but not enrichment. An ongoing study by Chhangur and Weeland (2012) seeks to investigate the role of quality of childcare on children’s competence on a sample of 480 families. The study examines how genetic differences affect environmental influences on individual development. Specifically, the study seeks to find out how parent training or parenting enrichment affects a genetically susceptible group of infants against a control group. Though the results are yet to be released as at the writing of the paper, the researcher hypothesizes that parenting enrichment will have a positive impact on infants’ susceptibility to environment adversity. Pleuss and Belsky’s (2009) study on interactions of negative child temperament and childcare type, quantity, and quality showed that children with difficult temperament as infants exhibited more behavioral problems when faced with lower quality care. Thus the researchers concluded that infants’ environmental susceptibility was responsive to quality of childcare. Levels of sensitivity Behavioral sensitivity Differences in susceptibility to environmental adversity are partly attributed to behavioral sensitivity. Infants and young children depicting higher behavioral reactions have shown higher risks of various development problems including mental health. High behavioral sensitivity or negative emotionality is characterized by responses to new stimuli or threatening stimuli with high level of anger, fear, anxiety, or sadness. However, behaviorally reactive infants are more susceptible to maternal caregiver behaviors than their less reactive peers. Maternal insensitivity and lack of warmth is highly linked with higher behavioral reactivity and leads to distress and ineffective self-regulation in later stages of life. Physiological sensitivity Differences in autonomic stress reactivity have been related to various developmental problems. There are two broad profiles of autonomic stress reactivity; externalizing symptoms caused by underarousal during the resting state or in response to challenging stimuli and internalizing symptoms caused overarousal in response to the same. For instance, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which is used to qualify parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) response indicated by variability of heart period within the frequency range connected to the respiratory cycle is conceptualized as a measure of young children’s ability to react to both positive and negative environmental stimuli.RSA indicates the efferent projections of the vagal nerve which suppressed sympathetic tone to the heart during clam or resting state and sets base heart rate. In challenging environments, the vagal nerve withdrawals sympathetic suppression to give way to a higher heart rate. Higher RSA reactivity is associated with better attention, increased involvement, and improved emotional regulation. Furthermore, high RSA has been shown to have protective capabilities in young children against deleterious effects of emotional negativity win family environments. On the other hand, lower PNS levels are associated with poor regulatory capacities, unstable, disproportionate emotional displays and risk for externalizing problems. Genetic sensitivity Research indicates that certain genes are involved in moderating the effects of environmental adversity on children’s adaptation and health. There have repeated studies seeking to analyze the gene-context interaction that influences behavior. A study by Caspi et al (2002) showed that low levels of the enzyme metabolizing the neurotransmitters serotonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine (monoamine oxidase A, MAOA) in young children was a predictor of antisocial behavior in adulthood. Kaufman et al (2004) also studied a sample of maltreated children and showed that a strong link between short allele of the 5-HTTLPR gene in children from low social support and higher levels of depression symptoms. A study by Bakermans-Kranenburg (2006) also showed that dopamine receptor gene (DRD4) 7-repeat polymorphism in infants was a predictor to disorganized attachment in infants and externalizing symptoms in children. Analysis Integrating these different levels of analysis shows that the combination of the environment and genotype gives rise to different levels of susceptibility to environmental adversity. However, in practice, separating genetic from environmental risks is almost impossible. A genetic disorder can often bring about an environmental adversity. This is hard to differentiate given that parents provide both the genetic and cultural transmissions of complexities. The interaction of the two is visible when the environmental effect differs for a variety of genotypes and when genetic expression into phenotypes differs in given environments. Nonetheless, elevated evidence of heredity of disorders in infant and young children’s should not replace attention to environmental influences. Clinicians should always focus on the extent to which genetic factors can alter both the interaction with and the impact of environmental adversity. A case of interaction between environment and heredity is the patterns of attachment exhibited by infants whose mothers have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (Hobson et al 2005). This is important in the study of attachment in mother-infant relations. Individuals are said to have BPD when they exhibit five of the following diagnostic criteria: a signs of intense unstable relationships; affective instability; poor anger control; self-mutilation or suicidal behavior; recurrent identity disturbance; persistent feelings of emptiness or boredom; and anxious efforts to avoid imaginary abandonment. There is no evidence to show that BPD is hereditary hence it is viewed as environmental adversity as opposed to a heredity issue because the condition is an indicator of emotional and relationship difficulties. A controlled study on a sample of women with dysthymia, those with BPD showed signs associated with paranoid–schizoid characterized by locked-in hostility and extreme, romanticizing, or condescending exchanges. Clinically, such traits correspond with an intrusive psychic defense mechanism which stirs negative and disturbing feelings in others by mirroring the emotional conflicts of the source, the mother. If infants are to relate with such mothers with such a condition, the impact on the infants’ development and attachment capabilities are substantial. Furthermore, mothers with BPD are likely to exhibit entangled attachments and confused, fearful and overwhelmed states of mind that are likely to increase the risk of disorganized attachment in infants (Hobson et al 2005). Conclusions Researchers are more aware of differential susceptibility to environmental adversity. However, methods of tracking these changes remain essentially undeveloped. There is need to develop more models and techniques of identify differences in susceptibility to environmental adversity. However, the paper has been able to conclusively show that there is evidence from empirical studies that there is differential susceptibility to environmental adversity in infants and young children. This thus affects children’s temperament, attachment and their response to quality of childcare. Such evidence points to the need for parents and caregivers to find new ways of managing infants’ susceptibility to environmental adversity. References Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. & IJzendoorn, M. 2007. Research review: Genetic vulnerability or differential susceptibility in child development: the case of attachment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 48, no. 12, pp 1160–1173. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01801.x Chhangur, R., Weeland, J, Overbeek, G., Matthys, W. & de Castro, B. 2012, ORCHIDS: an observational randomized controlled trial on childhood differential susceptibility. BioMedCentral Public Health, vol. 12, pp. 917. Gervai, J. 2009. Environmental and genetic influences on early attachment. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, vol. 3, no. 25, doi:10.1186/1753-2000-3-25 Hobson, R.P. and Patrick, M. and Crandell, L. and Garcia-Perez, R. and Lee, A. 2005, Personal relatedness and attachment in infants of mothers with borderline personality disorder. Development and Psychopathology, vol, 17, no. 2, pp. 329-347, doi: 10.1017/S0954579405050169 Obradović, J. & Boyce, W.T. 2009, Individual Differences in Behavioral, Physiological, and Genetic Sensitivities to Contexts: Implications for Development and Adaptation, Developmental Neuroscience, vol, 31, pp. 300–308 DOI: 10.1159/000216541 Pleuss, M. & Blesky, J. 2009, Differential susceptibility to rearing experience: the case of childcare. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol, 50, no 4, pp 396–404 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01992.x Taylor, E. & Rogers, J.W. 2005, Practitioner Review: Early adversity and developmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 46, no. 5 pp 451–467 doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00402.x Zeanah, C. & Fox, N. 2004, Temperament and Attachment Disorders, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, vol. 33, no. 1, pp.32-41 Read More

Do different temperamental disposition create a different experience and interaction with the adversity? To answer these questions, there is need to determine the specific interactive histories and assess putative biological differences at birth. With no data available to answer such questions, it is necessary to understand how individual differences in temperamental dispositions may lead to the behavioral patterns presently defined as clinical disorders of attachment and also the constructs of temperament and attachment and how they are related.

Temperament Zeanah and Fox (2004, p 33) define temperament “behavioral style exhibited by infants or young children in response to a range of stimuli and contexts.” It refers to the “how” in the behavior of infants. For instance, many infants will respond to a banging door or flashing lights but they will not all react in the same manner. Nine dimensions are used to classify temperament namely activity level, rhythm or regularity of functioning, approach-withdrawal in new/strange situations, intensity of emotional expression, adaptability to changes in routine, persistence, overall valence of mood, distractibility or soothability, and threshold of sensory responsiveness.

Attachment Egeland defines attachment as the “the affective bond that develops between an infant and caregiver” (2004, p. 1). Bowlby (1982, p. 371) offers a deeper definition to say that attachment is the link that makes a child or infant "strongly disposed to seek proximity to and contact with a specific figure and to do so in certain situations, notably when he is frightened, tired or ill" (Zeanah & Fox, 2004, p. 4). In other words, attachment is the organization of behavior among infants and young children that makes want to seek physical proximity to a preferred individual in search of support, comfort for distress, nurturance, and protection from danger among others.

While newborns can recognize their mothers through smell and sound, they are unable to express preference for a particular individual. Between two and seven months, infants are more open to experimenting by interacting with different individuals both familiar and unfamiliar. At about 7-9 months, infants exhibit discretion towards unfamiliar individuals and protest separation from familiar ones. At this stage, the infant is aid to be ‘attached’. The attachment figures are arranged in a hierarchical manner usually depending on amount of interactions that give result in strength or preference.

Relationship between attachment and temperament There are notable biological individual differences in newborns in self-regulation of arousal and distress that have an immediate impact on parents. These capabilities are defined by dimensions such as soothability, irritability, and negative emotionality. Over the years, there have been two approaches on the role of infant temperament in formation of attachment and relationships from an early age onwards. Attachment theorists argue that temperament has no direct effect on the quality of attachment and relationships formed since caregivers have the capacity to moderate extreme characteristics.

For instance, sensitive caregivers can easily pacify a difficult temperament. Temperament researchers on the other hand argue that infant-caregiver interactions in the strange situation do not explain the quality of the relationship but rather illustrate the infant’s temperament. Mangelsdorf and Frosch (cited in Gervai 2009) claim that the degree of influence that infant temperament has on infant-caregiver attachment is indirect and can be regulated by other maternal variables. Vaughn and Bost (1999, cited in Gervai 2009) show that temperament and attachment are different constructs and the differences in their relationships are based on different conceptualization of the two.

A study by O’Connor and Croft (2001 cited in Bakermans-Kranenburg & IJzendoorn, 2007) to assess the role of temperament on attachment on 43 month old twin pairs under the strange situation procedure showed a modest influence on genetics at 14% shared (32%) and non-shared (53%) environment.

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