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172 PILLAR 2 Development and LearningResponsivenessThe third element of the attachment bond is responsiveness. Responsive parents are aware of what their children are doing, and they respond appropriately. Unresponsive parents often ignore their babies, helping them only when they feel like it. Mary Ainsworth47 found that responsiveness appears to affect whether a child is securely or insecurely attached. Securely attached children happily explore their environment when their primary caregiver is around. If that caregiver leaves, they appear distressed, and they go to their caregiver as soon as that person returns. Insecurely attached children are often clingy and are less likely to explore and learn about the environment. When their caregiver leaves, they either cry loudly or show indifference to the caregiver%u2019s departure and return.Dutch researcher Dymphna van den Boom48 designed a study to assess the role of the environment in attachment. She took 100 temperamentally difficult infants and randomly assigned half to a group in which their mothers received training on how to be a responsive caregiver and half to a group in which the mothers received no training. When the children reached their first birthday, van den Boom assessed their attachment to their mothers. A whopping 68 percent of the children whose mothers had received training were deemed securely attached. Only 28 percent of the children in the other group were securely attached. Responsiveness matters.Effects of AttachmentDoes what we learn in the cradle last to the grave? Said differently, does secure or insecure attachment have long-term effects, or do these terms simply describe some bonds and behaviors limited to our early childhood? Consider the following:%u2022 Secure attachment predicts social competence. Children identified as securely attached between 12 and 18 months of age were more outgoing, more confident, and more persistent in solving challenging tasks when restudied as 2- and 3-year-olds.49%u2022 Deprivation of attachment is linked to negative outcomes. Babies who grow up in institutions without a caregiver%u2019s regular attention do not form normal attachments and often appear withdrawn and frightened.50 Physical and emotional abuse often disrupts attachment as well. Although most abused children show great resilience and do not grow up to be violent criminals or abusive parents, most abusive parents were, in fact, battered or emotionally abused as children.51%u2022 A responsive environment helps most infants recover from attachment disruption. Children who have been neglected but who are later adopted between 6 and 16 months of age at first have trouble sleeping, eating, and relating to their new parents.52 However, by age 10, this same group of adopted children shows virtually no adverse effects from the early neglect.The evidence is consistent and clear. Children who have a warm relationship with familiar, responsive caregivers reap the benefits of secure attachment. Most often, attachment is a direct result of the parenting children receive. So, if parents are responsive, does the way they parent%u2014their parenting style%u2014matter? Let%u2019s take a look.Are You My Mother? It appears these ducklings have imprinted on this dog.Tracey Helmboldt/Shutterstock.comMARY AINSWORTH (1913%u20131999)Psychologist who developed attachment theory and procedures for assessing emotional attachment between young children and their caregivers. Macmillan Learning%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.