The Importance of Attachment

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Attachment refers to how individuals relate to others, shaped by their early relationships.

Attachment theory explains how a child’s ability to form healthy relationships is significantly influenced by these early bonds.

Unfortunately, many children in care have faced disruption in these relationships due to neglect, loss, abuse, or separation from their families. Most will have also experienced inadequate parenting and instability from multiple placement moves. These experiences negatively impact their ability to form healthy attachments with peers and adults.

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How does the quality of Attachment affect Brain Development?

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Research shows that the brain develops rapidly in the first three years, and experiences greatly influence this process. Negative experiences like abuse, neglect, loss, and separation can lead to insecure attachment and difficulties in:

  • Emotion regulation
  • Motor and sensory skills
  • Language development
  • Social functioning
  • Abstract thought
  • Educational attainment

These challenges impact the child’s internal working model—how they view themselves, others, and the world—often reinforcing negative beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.

Contact a member of our team

Our services are a lifeline for vulnerable children and their families and, with your support, we can give them a brighter future.
24 hour referrals line:
0151 949 5690

Does poor attachment impact on mental health & academic achievement?

Whilst research shows that children in care are significantly more likely to experience mental health difficulties and lower academic achievement, their mental health, and academic needs are frequently unnoticed and unmet by statutory services.

Factors that impede young people in care accessing the appropriate mental health support include:

  • A shortage of key staff in statutory services, due to deep funding cuts, which limits young people’s chances of getting appropriate and consistent help.
  • Difficulties in accessing statutory services; data from the NHS benchmarking network and recent audits reveal increases in referrals and waiting times, with providers reporting increased complexity and severity of presenting problems.
  • Children in care often have to wait weeks to months for an assessment and intervention due to lengthy waiting times or due to issues around funding; especially if the child is out of Borough.
  • The delay in the delivery of care can lead to a deterioration of the young person’s presentation, which can result in placement breakdown and the young person being moved to a different foster or residential placement, or even out of local authority care, by the time their appointment comes up.
  • Whilst children in care can wait a long time for therapeutic support from statutory services, they can access ‘immediate’ support from services if they present in crisis, e.g. after an incident of self-harm. The young person can then equate ‘getting help’ from services with presenting in crisis, as opposed to engaging in a therapeutic process, which can increase the cycle of risky behaviour.

Factors that impede young people in care accessing the appropriate educational support include:

  • The instability of care and school placements, inadequate levels of targeted support and low expectations and aspirations.
  • Relatively lower starting levels, poorly informed teachers and social workers, and carers not being sufficiently engaged in the child’s education.