Editing Nurture (section)

== Attachment and Socioemotional Development ==
Nurture contributes to our attachment and socioemotional development via bonding and interactions with caregivers, who are responsible for early-year socialisation. These environmental experiences can have long-term consequences across the life course.

[[John Bowlby|Bowlby’s]] [[attachment theory]] explores the effects of early caregiver relationships, whereby parental nurture affects bond formation with infants. The resulting attachment from the degree of caregiver responsiveness or deprivation influences psychological development and interactions with others beyond infancy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowlby |first=John |title=Attachment and Loss, Volume 1: Attachment |publisher=Basic Books |year=1969 |location=New York |pages=354–356}}</ref> This is substantiated in [[Mary Ainsworth|Ainsworth’s]] [[Strange situation|Strange Situation]] study, which assigned attachment styles of secure, avoidant and ambivalent, according to the behaviour observed when infants were separated from and then reunited with their mothers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ainsworth |first1=Mary D. Salter |last2=Bell |first2=Silvia M. |date=1970 |title=Attachment, Exploration, and Separation: Illustrated by the Behavior of One-Year-Olds in a Strange Situation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1127388 |journal=Child Development |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=49–67 |doi=10.2307/1127388 |jstor=1127388 |pmid=5490680 |issn=0009-3920|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These can profoundly influence adult personality and life outcomes. The role of nurture is also reflected in different parental styles which may correspond with attachment. For example, evidence from Kuppens & Ceulemans (2018) shows that authoritative parenting (offering emotional support) is linked to more favourable behavioural outcomes in children than with authoritarian parenting, which is more punishing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuppens |first=Sofie |last2=Ceulemans |first2=Eva |date=2019-01-01 |title=Parenting Styles: A Closer Look at a Well-Known Concept |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-018-1242-x |journal=Journal of Child and Family Studies |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=168–181 |doi=10.1007/s10826-018-1242-x |issn=1573-2843 |pmc=6323136 |pmid=30679898}}</ref>

Secure attachment during infancy highlights the importance of early nurturing environments in our middle childhood emotional operations. Securely attached children express stronger emotional stability, as measured by reduced emotional change when switching from distressing to positive discussions. It is thought that this difference arises due to secure attachment promoting enhanced appraisal of volatile situations, leading to behavioural responses considered more appropriate.<ref name="Tabachnick 258–269">{{Cite journal |last=Tabachnick |first=Alexandra R. |last2=He |first2=Yunqi |last3=Zajac |first3=Lindsay |last4=Carlson |first4=Elizabeth A. |last5=Dozier |first5=Mary |date=March 2022 |title=Secure attachment in infancy predicts context-dependent emotion expression in middle childhood |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8678397/ |journal=Emotion  |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=258–269 |doi=10.1037/emo0000985 |issn=1931-1516 |pmc=8678397 |pmid=34138582}}</ref> Additionally, children’s experiences of trauma, for instance neglect or abuse, may have detrimental impacts on their development, representing a lack of nurture. This trauma can increase later vulnerability to [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|post traumatic stress disorder,]] which may be mediated by [[emotional dysregulation]], manifesting as challenges in coordinating goal-directed behaviour and putting them at a greater risk of substance abuse disorders or self-injury.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Conti |first1=Lorenzo |last2=Fantasia |first2=Sara |last3=Violi |first3=Miriam |last4=Dell'Oste |first4=Valerio |last5=Pedrinelli |first5=Virginia |last6=Carmassi |first6=Claudia |date=2023-12-18 |title=Emotional Dysregulation and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms: Which Interaction in Adolescents and Young Adults? A Systematic Review |journal=Brain Sciences |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages=1730 |doi=10.3390/brainsci13121730 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-3425 |pmc=10741474 |pmid=38137178}}</ref>

However, the solely environmental perspective has been criticised by some who address the substantial genetic component governing the development of relationships in early-attachment. Children’s variable susceptibility to [[socialization]], including parenting approaches, is evidenced by the complex interplay between gene-environment interaction effects, such as chemical transmission across neurons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gervai |first=Judit |date=2009-09-04 |title=Environmental and genetic influences on early attachment |journal=Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=25 |doi=10.1186/1753-2000-3-25 |doi-access=free |issn=1753-2000 |pmc=2753321 |pmid=19732441}}</ref>