Case Study #1-Chapter 5 1

Running head: Case Study #1-Chapter 5

U04a1: Case Study #1-Chapter 5

Anthony Rhodes

Psy7210

Life Span Development

2911 Hamilton Blvd. 444

Sioux City, Iowa 51104

Telephone: 712-301-9258

Email: anthonyrhodes54@yahoo.com

Instructor: David Chapman, PsyD

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Case Study #1 : Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P./Chapter 5

Discussion Questions

1. Explain Dawn’s behavior from an attachment point of view. How would you describe

Dawn’s attachment history?

Dawn appears to be a child with a strong temperament. Although it is not indicated in the

case study, one has to wonder whether this is purely the result of genetic influence, an

underdevelopment of self-regulation or both. Emotional self regulation develops during infancy

and is a critical first step in the development of a full-fledged conscience (Broderick, P. C., &

Blewitt, P., 2006). Toddlers who have become emotionally well adjusted through proper

parenting will self-regulate their emotional response when complying with parental and

situational demands resulting in conformity to socially approved behavior. According to Rubin,

Hastings, Chen, Stewart & McNichol (1998), aggressive 2 year olds who frequently expressed

strong negative emotion and low levels of emotional and behavioral self control showed

indications of “emotion dysregulation” (as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Dawn is a toddler with high levels of anxiety characteristic of children who are insecurely

attached or anxious ambivalent (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Children with this

attachment quality struggle to achieve a sense of security even when the caregiver is present. As

stated previously, it is not clear whether this is due to prior parenting styles during infancy,

genetics or both. Attachment theory indicates that caregiving during the 1st year is critical to

establishing proximity maintenance, a secure base and a safe haven in an infant (Broderick, P.

C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). According to Ainsworth (1978), mothers of anxious ambivalent babies
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showed tendencies to be affectionate but awkward in holding (as cited in Broderick, P. C., &

Blewitt, P., 2006).

Some mothers like Terry launch into parenting without the proper skills and

understanding of the demands of providing a secure attachment quality. As mentioned in online

discussion, training in parenting can be extremely beneficial to new mothers in determining the

outcomes of attachment quality (Capella University, 2009). According to a Van den Boom

(1994) study, 72% of infants at 12 months old whose mothers received no parental training were

insecurely attached.

Dawn’s high anxiety temperament required significant patience and time commitment

from Terry. Consistent and patient caregiving has been shown over time to minimize irritable

behavior in difficult, temperamental children (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Nevertheless despite repeated attempts by Dawn’s mother to provide adequate child centered

attention and care, Dawn seems consistently discontent, fussy, resistant and frustrated.

Dawn’s attachment history changed when she was 3 years old after the birth of Darren,

her little brother. It became more severely damaged over time. Less responsiveness and more

demandingness by Dawn’s mother, who was preoccupied with Darren’s physical needs, created

more aggravated emotional behavior in Dawn. Separation from her mother through nap time and

preschool escalated the insecure attachment quality to more extreme levels of emotional

expression. Anxious ambivalent children often become very distressed when separated from

their caregiver (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

In contrast, securely attached children learn to tolerate separation because they have

gained confidence in their mother’s availability to provide care (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P.,
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2006). However in Dawn’s case, separation from her mother increased the severity of her

insecure attachment causing her to act out her anger outside the home. Studies indicate that

insecurely attached children are more likely to act helpless, act out for attention, or in some cases

avoid seeking help when they need it (Sroufe, Fox & Pancake, 1983, as cited in Broderick, P. C.,

& Blewitt, P., 2006).

2. Describe Terry’s parenting style. Has the style changed? What suggestions would you give

to Terry and Bill about handling this problem?

Bill and Terry were very committed to raising a family. It appears they had discussed

their level of commitment and made financial adjustments they felt were necessary and

consistent with their convictions regarding good parenting. Their initial solution of Terry

quitting her job to stay at home to care for Dawn was very sacrificial and commendable.

However, initially and over time Terry’s parenting style is partly to blame for Dawn’s emotional

maladjustment.

Terry’s sacrificial commitment and frequent attempts to modulate Dawn’s strong

emotional outbursts demonstrates the warmth dimension of both enhancing attachment quality

and acquiescing to a toddler’s need for autonomy. Just as infants sense of self worth grows out

of a trust in a caregiver to meet their needs, so a toddler continues to grow in this same area

when allowed to experience self-sufficiency or autonomy. Thomas and Chess described it as

parents creating a “good fit” through consistent effort and self-sacrifice (as cited in Broderick, P.

C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

However, in terms of the demonstrating the control dimension of attachment quality,

Terry seemed to lack any expression of parental demandingness towards Dawn’s extreme
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behavior. Her parenting style was permissive. Permissive caregivers are normally very

responsive to a child’s needs, but the lack of consistent demandingness towards a child can result

in low levels of cognitive competency and high levels of aggression (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt,

P., 2006).

Although Terry demonstrated consistent warmth and acceptance, studies indicate that

socialization is more complete when combined with demandingness (Maccoby and Martin, 1983,

as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Both responsiveness and demandingness from

a parent must be held in a delicate balance for a child to develop a positive self esteem and

emotional self regulation.

Shortly after their special needs child Darren was born, Terry’s parenting style began to

change. Terry’s frustrations began to multiply when her parenting skills with Darren, which had

been mildly successful with Dawn, were ineffective. Darren was an irritable child for long

periods of time. Terry’s ineffectiveness in calming Darren’s emotions, her lack of parental

training for a special needs child and mounting financial pressures caused Terry’s parenting style

to spiral out of control.

Consequently, her parenting style began to shift from permissive to authoritarian.

Parenting two difficult temperamental children and financial pressures produced an unreasonable

amount of stress. Studies indicate that mothers who reported significant levels of life stresses

were more likely to see their securely attached children become insecurely attached in 18 months

(Vaughn, Egeland, Sroufe, and Waters 1979, as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Bill had taken on another job which left Terry all alone to handle what she began to

perceive as a complex and unmanageable situation. The isolation, physical tiredness, frustration
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and fear of failure as a parent caused Terry to begin to make irrational decisions regarding her

parental responsiveness to Dawn.

Terry began to misinterpret Dawn’s pleas for parental responsiveness as intrusions and

responded with more demandingness and less responsiveness. Dawn’s preschool teacher’s

complaint further reinforced Terry’s feelings of parental inadequacy. Dawn’s extreme emotional

outbursts at preschool caused Terry to respond in a harsh authoritarian way to Dawn. Terry’s

authoritarian parenting style and need for physical rest relegated Dawn to nap times which she

vehemently resisted.

This authors suggestions to Bill and Terry involves seeking adequate psychological

consultation and parental training. Bill and Terry have become isolated and need to return to

their initial phase of communicating and making decisions together. Bill must be able to make

personal adjustments in his schedule to include support for Terry and their children. Studies

indicate that although mothers tend to be the primary caregiver, fathers can play a significant role

in enhancing attachment quality in a child (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Finally, parent training especially for a special needs child like Darren is recommended.

According to Feldman & Kazdin, (1995), parent training is very effective in reducing

noncompliance in children 4 to 8 years old (as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Parent training can improve the home atmosphere, reduce stress and provide workable strategies

for parenting temperamental children. As in the case of Darren and his medical treatment, a

parent management component can make the therapeutic program for Darren even better. Bill

and Terry need instruction on how to properly demonstrate responsiveness and demandingness to

their children in an authoritative parenting style. Research with children whose early
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attachments were distorted suggests that attachment security can be recovered and reestablished

later in childhood (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

3. What are some of the contextual influences on Dawn’s behavior?

There are a couple contextual influences on Dawn’s behavior. First, there are cultural

influences at work within the context of the home and preschool. Race, ethnicity and

socioeconomic factors can alter parenting styles and affect child socialization. Certain parenting

and disciplinary practices may differ across cultures (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Furthermore, Dawn is the only black child in the preschool classroom. It is beyond the

scope of the case study to speculate as to how Terry may perceive this classroom situation.

However, her eventual authoritarian parenting style towards Dawn’s emotional outburst in

preschool may be the result of cross cultural stress and other related psychological issues she has

yet to completely understand as a parent.

The aspect of day care is also a contextual influence upon Dawn’s behavior. There is the

risk of perpetuating insecure attachments for children in day care compared to children in home

care. Many studies suggest that the risk of insecure attachment is related to poor child care and

many hours per week (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Because of Dawn’s insecure

attachment quality, substitute care in this case is a risk factor that can magnify the external

outcome of aggression in Dawn if improper care is provided and prolonged separation is

sustained.
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References

Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2006) The Life span: Human development for helping

professionals (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Capella University (2009), Psychology 7210 Online Discussion, Minneapolis, Mn. Retrieved

May 2, 2009, from http://courseroom2.capella.edu/webct