INTRODUCTION
Attachment, defined as the strong emotional bonds that people develop towards people they deem important to them, has been studied by researchers for many years. Attachment theory suggests that attachment patterns formed in the first years of life are transferred to later periods of life without much change through internal working models. However, it is thought that attachment patterns have an important place in determining the social-emotional competencies of individuals.
Attachment Theory, developed by Bowlby (1969; 1979; 1980), began to serve as a basic framework used to understand many phenomena regarding close relationships, following the study of Hazan and Shaver in 1987 (see Hazan and Shaver, 1994; Mikulincer and Shaver, 2005). Bowlby (1969) described attachment as an adaptive system that protects the individual against environmental threats. According to this evolutionary approach, those who have the closest relationship with the child in the first years of life and those who raise him/her are defined as basic attachment figures. It is widely accepted that the relationship established with attachment figures affects a person's emotions, thoughts and behaviors throughout life (cited in Boyacıoğlu and Sümer, 2011).
ATTACHMENT STYLES
Secure Attachment: The behaviors of securely attached babies serve as a security base for maintaining closeness, seeking comfort, and exploring the caregiver. is the ability to use it. A securely attached baby becomes restless when his mother leaves the room, relaxes when she returns, and continues to explore his environment as long as he is with her.
Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment: The caregiver of an anxious/ambivalently attached baby observed at home showed inconsistent reactivity to the baby's signals, was sometimes unreachable or unresponsive, and at other times interrupted the child's activities. In laboratory studies, these babies appeared both angry and anxious. Their minds become so preoccupied with their caregivers that they can no longer explore.
K Anxious/Avoidant Attachment: Caregivers of anxious/avoidantly attached infants at home have consistently rejected or discouraged their children's desires for relief and especially close physical contact. In the laboratory setting, these babies appeared unaffected or uneasy by separation, avoided contact with their caregivers, and focused their attention on their toys.
Attachment During Infancy is in direct need of your help. This inevitable situation explains the coexistence, tendencies and needs of organisms of the human species, especially the need for attachment. Attachment is an expected situation that begins in the first days of life, has a predominant emotional aspect. The concept of attachment in infancy; It covers all emotion and behavior patterns such as giving positive reactions to a certain person, wanting to spend most of the time with that person, immediately looking for that person in the face of any fearful situation or object, feeling the presence of the attached person and simultaneously feeling relief.
Attachment is a strong bond that develops between the baby and the primary caregiver and establishes a sense of trust in the baby. In the second half of the first year, the baby begins to become attached to the person who meets his needs.
The impact of pathological attachment patterns experienced in infancy on future relationships is an issue that remains important today. For this reason, it becomes important to clarify the relationship patterns and determine the dynamics between the baby and the primary caregiver (Soysal et al., 2005).
Attachment in Middle Childhood
According to Bowlby, parents who establish a secure attachment relationship with their children also reassure them that they are valuable, safe and loved. . Children who develop under this assurance, on the one hand, develop the self-confidence necessary for success. While gaining confidence, they also protect their psychological health (cited in Sümer and Şendağ, 2009).
Bowlby (1973; 1982) suggested that the patterns of emotion, thought and behavior laid in infancy continue from "cradle to grave" and are generalized to other close relationships during the development process. According to attachment theory, children who develop secure attachment can successfully use their attachment figures (usually parents) as a safe haven in times of stress and tension, and as a safe "exploration base" during play or in situations where they do not feel stressed (cited in Sümer and Şendağ, 2009).
Although the importance and impact of attachment do not change much, the frequency and depth of attachment behaviors decrease from early ages to middle childhood. During middle childhood, attachment mental models become clear and they begin to more actively direct expectations and beliefs in different areas. Research shows that, unlike adolescence and adulthood, parents still function as primary attachment figures in middle childhood. However, in parallel with the mental and emotional development of children in this period, their areas of autonomy also expand. Therefore, during this period, children turn to new goals and want to spend more time with their peers, which relatively distances them from focusing on attachment figures (cited in Sümer and Şendağ, 2009).
Attachment During Adolescence
From the attachment perspective, adolescence is a transition period. Attachment plays a fundamental role in adolescence in helping the adolescent cope with new situations. During adolescence, the adolescent makes great efforts to become less dependent on his caregiver, who is his first attachment figure.
Raja and his friends explained the attachment process during adolescence in three ways. According to the first explanation, there is a shift from parents to friends. With this change, adolescents try to gain their autonomy. According to this explanation, attachment to parents and friends are oppositely related to each other. According to the second statement, family and friends They create two different worlds for them. Attachment to parents may be independent of attachment to friends, and the relative importance of these two worlds varies depending on the context in which the adolescent evaluates himself. According to the third explanation, attachment to parents and friends are positively related to each other (cited in Morsünbül and Çok, 2011).
Adolescents often turn to their friends for support in situations of stress. However, this does not mean that adolescents do not need the support of their parents. Some studies have shown that adolescents continue to use their parents for some attachment needs and that secure attachment to parents predicts the well-being of individuals until young adulthood.
Laible examined the relationships between attachment to parents and friends and social emotional skills in his study with adolescents. According to the results of the study; Secure attachment to parents and friends is positively associated with social-emotional skills. However, a higher level of correlation was found between secure attachment to friends and social-emotional skills. According to Laible, two explanations can be given for this result. The first is that friendship relationships become more important than parental relationships during adolescence, and the second is that friendship relationships provide different environments for adolescents to develop their social-emotional skills. As a result, it can be said that attachment to friends is more important during adolescence, but attachment to parents remains important (Morsünbül and Çok, 2011).
Attachment in Adulthood
Ainsworth (1989) states that the attachment styles shaped by the relationships babies establish with their parents will generally be repeated in the close relationships they establish when they become adults. Based on this view, Hazan and Shaver (1987) suggested that the same attachment styles may emerge in adolescence, in emotional relationships in adulthood, and in marital relationships (cited in Arslan, 2008).
Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991), quatrain for adults They mentioned the attachment model. Four-way attachment model: The four-way attachment model is based on the individual's positive or negative evaluation of his/her own self and other individuals. Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) explained these attachment styles as follows;
Secure attachment: This attachment style consists of a combination of a positive self model and a positive others model. Individuals with secure attachment are comfortable with closeness in close relationships and have internalized a sense of worth about themselves.
Dismissive attachment: This attachment style consists of a combination of a positive self model and a negative others model. Dismissive individuals often avoid intimacy due to their negative expectations. But they maintain their sense of self-worth by defensively denying the value of close relationships.
Preoccupied attachment: This attachment style consists of a combination of the negative self model and the positive others model. Preoccupied individuals are anxious about gaining trust and acceptance from others (Bartholomew and Shaver, 1998). Preoccupied attachment demonstrates a sense of worthlessness along with positive evaluations of other people. Individuals displaying this attachment style strive to find personal worth and personal competence in their close relationships.
Fearful attachment: This attachment style consists of the combination of the negative self model and the negative others model. Fearful individuals are similar to obsessive individuals in that they have high thoughts of acceptance and approval from others. But they avoid intimacy to avoid the pain of rejection and loss. Fearful attachment expresses the individual's expectations that others will be unreliable and rejecting individuals, that he/she will not be loved, and the feeling of worthlessness. This style expresses their efforts to protect themselves against the risk of rejection by avoiding being close to other people (cited in Arslan, 2008).
Conclusion
Research shows that attachment is It has been observed that it is of great importance during infancy. Types of attachment that develop during infancy
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