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Parental behavior and attachment Attachment: Attachment theory is a concept that was created by developmental psychologist John Bowlby in the 1950s and 1960s. He proposed that the parent-child bond that is created is the strongest and is a predictor of the type of attachment styles individuals would have in their future interpersonal relationships. The theory focuses primarily on the mother-child bond, explaining that the type of attachment that is created between them reflects how the child will develop on an emotional, cognitive and social levels. He also saw that early infant separation could lead to future maladaptive behavior. John Bowlby describes his theory in having four styles of attachment: anxious style, which is an attachment style that is categorized by the strong desire for emotional connection, however, they fear abandonment. So the anxious types have a distrustful relationship and would constantly seek approval and validation from their caregiver and would do the same as adults. Second, the avoidant style attachment: characterized by the idea that the individual is self-sustaining, meaning that they do not need emotional attachment and they often downplay the importance of relationships. They would have had their needs unmet by their caregiver and felt unloved and unimportant by them. So they develop a difficulty in regards to emotional expression and would avoid intimate relationships as adults. Third, disorganized or fearful attachment style: they would be best categorized as an in-between style of avoidant and anxious. People that fit within this attachment style are often mistrusting and have difficulty maintaining emotional discipline and control. As children they would have lashed out easily and broke toys and had difficult relationships with their caregiver. As adults, they would have a difficult time with intimate relationships and often explode emotionally on their partner. Finally, secure attachment: it is the healthy style out of the four and it is shown by the warm and loving relationship the child has with their caregiver and by extension, as an adult with their partner. People with a secure attachment style can easily control their emotions and have no issues expressing them. They do not fear intimate relationships as adults and have no problem maintaining a long term relationship. Attachment hormones and Parental bonding: There are four main hormones that are in charge of attachment development: oxytocin, vasopressin, prolactin and dopamine. Firstly, dopamine is the hormone that is associated with the reward system in the brain. Research has found that when forming bonds and attachments with others, dopamine is released at higher levels. Indicating that the reward system in the brain is likely to be responsible for the feelings of pleasure we have when we interact with family and loved ones. Secondly, Oxytocin is a hormone that is produced in the hypothalamus and it is responsible for uterine contraction in labor and childbirth, stimulates contractions of breast tissue and aids in lactation after childbirth. It also plays a vital role in attachment formation, it is the main hormone that is released when forming mother child bonding and it is also responsible with the emotional attachment formation in romantic relationships. Thirdly, prolactin is a hormone that has multiple functions such as stimulating the mammary glands to produce milk. In the case of attachment, it is thought to be associated with social bonding and romantic bonding, working in tandem with oxytocin. It influences both maternal and paternal behavior, studies have shown that the administration of this hormone to male female rats increased paternal and maternal behavior respectively. Research also shows that an increase in prolactin allows paternal figures to be more alert and nurturing. demonstrating a decrease in testosterone when the offspring is born. It also showed that paternal figures with higher levels of prolactin are more likely to initiate play with their offspring. Further showing that prolactin is vital in father child bonding. Finally, vasopressin plays a role in regulating the circadian rhythm and helps maintain the body's internal temperature, its blood volume, and the proper flow of urine from the kidneys. Vasopressin also seems to be involved in more “protective” roles, defensive aggression involved in protecting partner, offspring and territory as opposed to testosterones effect of offensive aggression. It has been shown to be related to displays of defensive aggression, in males and females. When studying the effects of vasopressin in multiparous rats, the research showed that there is an increase in the levels of aggression that they display towards strangers as a response to protecting their pups compared to primiparous rats. Suggesting that levels of vasopressin expression increase as the number of offspring increase, leading to higher protective tendencies (Winslow, J.T. et al, 1993). Another study has found that paternal behavior influences the development of aggression and vasopressin expression in male california mouse offspring. It showed that retrieval behavior that is displayed by the paternal figure of the offspring would later present higher levels of vasopressin in the offspring, particularly the male offspring (Young, K.A. et al., 2011). Showing higher rates of defensive aggression such as territorial behavior and partner and offspring protection. That suggests that the presence of the paternal figure and the frequency of interaction between them and their offspring was positively correlated with increase in territorial aggression by the male offspring (Frazier, C.R.M. et al, 2006). Some research adds that vasopressin and testosterone as well as prolactin are involved in parental bonding, having higher levels of vasopressin, testosterone and that would lead to lower levels of prolactin.(Fernandez-Duque E., 2009) Maternal bonding is the one of the strongest bonds one has throughout their lifetime. The binding process starts at pregnancy and gradually increases during the pregnancy period. After childbirth, the release of oxytocin, which is released during breastfeeding is the main reason for solidifying the bond between mother and child. Paternal bonding, however, manifests differently and later in the child's life more so after the child develops language and is able to walk. Compared to the maternal bond which is more nurturing in the type of interaction that the mother has with the child, the paternal bond is more so associated with rough and tumble play. It occurs later in the life of the child.

Reference list: Fernandez-Duque, E., Valeggia, C.R. and Mendoza, S.P. (2009) “The biology of paternal care in human and nonhuman primates,” Annual Review of Anthropology, 38(1), pp. 115–130. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164334. Frazier, C.R.M. et al. (2006) “Paternal behavior influences development of aggression and vasopressin expression in male California mouse offspring,” Hormones and Behavior, 50(5), pp. 699–707. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.06.035. Winslow, J.T. et al. (1993) “A role for central vasopressin in pair bonding in monogamous prairie voles,” Nature, 365(6446), pp. 545–548. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/365545a0. Young, K.A. et al. (2011) “The neurobiology of pair bonding: Insights from a socially monogamous rodent,” Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32(1), pp. 53–69. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2010.07.006.