Attunement and attachment in infant and family mental health and wellbeing

This chapter considers and evaluates the importance of attunement and attachment in the field of infant mental health and wellbeing. It collates and sets out the historical and current body of research and knowledge relating to the relationship between parents, caregivers and their infants. Attunement and attachment are presented as key terms and are defined accordingly. The concept of attachment, which is the ability to establish an emotional connection or bond with another human being, has already been discussed and explored extensively. Early pioneers of attachment research can be identified as John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth and Mary Main. Their research collectively identified an attachment as an emotional bond that ties two people, knowing no boundaries in terms of time and space (Bowlby, 1969). It is a connection ‘to a specific person to whom one turns when one feels vulnerable and in need of protection’ (Ainsworth, 1973, In Crittenden and Landini, 2011, p.30). A caregiver&s;s ability to identify and respond sensitively to an infant&s;s cues occupies the second part of this chapter. One of the most seminal writers on attunement is Daniel Stern who advanced the discussion on the interpersonal world of infants. Stern ( 1985 ) considered the role of attunement as one that enables the caregiver to sense and react to the needs and behaviours of infants, inherently and automatically.