Caregiver infant interactions

• Caregiver infant interactions


  Study of how caregivers and infants interact
• Schaffer and Emerson study

  • Studied 60 babies from the same housing estate in Glasgow over an 18 month period (longitudinal study)
  • Infants were all observed by their Primary Caregiver who kept a diary
  • PCGs had to complete various conditions and take notes for the diary e.g. leaving infant alone in pram
• Findings


  • 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards their PCG in the first 25-32 weeks, showing attachment had started
  • Stranger anxiety followed within one month of attachment forming
  • The person who interacted with the child was the one who tended to become the PCG, regardless of whether they fed the baby
  • After 18 months, 32% of children had at least 5 attachments, with the first still being the strongest
• In 37% of cases the mother was not the main person doing the day to day care of the child, but in all cases she became the PCG