Developmental psychiatry comes of age
Abstract
Although Meyer and Freud believed that the seeds of mental health are sown in childhood, systematic research has proved difficult and disappointing, and theory has remained intensely controversial. Research of the past two decades by developmental psychologists using an ethologically based theory of socioemotional bonds, however, is yielding findings that consistently confirm predictions. The author outlines this research, giving examples of the results, which are shown to be compatible with findings of epidemiological studies of depressed adults. He holds that a person's degree of vulnerability to stressors is strongly influenced by the development and current state of his or her intimate relationships.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Attachment theory postulates that early life experiences have an enduring effect on personality development through the formation of cognitive-affective templates of self and other, termed internal working models.
“Attachment theory postulates that early life experiences have an enduring effect on personality development through the formation of cognitive-affective templates of self and other, termed internal working models [10].”
From “It’s not you, it’s me”: identity disturbance as the main contributor to interpersonal problems in pathological narcissism (2023) · cites this paper as [10]
Cites
Attachment and Loss. Vol. I. Attachment.
Jones, N. B., & Bowlby, J. (1970) · Man · doi:10.2307/2798963 · Cited by 4,201 · see citing works
Self-citationResilience in the Face of Adversity
Rutter, M. (1985) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.147.6.598 · Cited by 3,616 · see citing works
(1990) · doi:10.1097/00004583-199109000-00043 · Cited by 1,085 · see citing works
Handbook of Infant Development.
Lilleskov, R. K. (1983) · Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association · doi:10.1177/000306518303100327 · Cited by 1,048 · see citing works
LaFrenière, P. J., & Sroufe, L. A. (1985) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.21.1.56 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Childhood loss of parent, lack of adequate parental care and adult depression: a replication
Bifulco, A. T., Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1987) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/0165-0327(87)90003-6 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Infant Response to Rejection of Physical Contact by the Mother
Main, M., & Stadtman, J. (1981) · Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0002-7138(09)60990-0 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Harris, T., Brown, G. W., & Bifulco, A. T. (1987) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700013064 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Self-Esteem, Vulnerability and Psychiatric Disorder in the Community
Ingham, J. G., Kreitman, N., Miller, P. M., Sashidharan, S. P., & Surtees, P. G. (1986) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.148.4.375 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
THE NATURE AND QUALITIES OF PARENTING PROVIDED BY WOMEN RAISED IN INSTITUTIONS
Dowdney, L., Skuse, D., Rutter, M. L., et al. (1985) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1985.tb01644.x · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Longitudinal studies in child psychology and psychiatry : practical lessons from research experience
Nicol, A. R. (1985) · Wiley eBooks · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Depression in Young People: Developmental and Clinical Perspectives
Klykylo, W. M. (1987) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.144.11.1505 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Family systems and the attachment dynamic
Heard, D. H. (1982) · Journal of Family Therapy · doi:10.1046/j..1982.00580.x · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Measuring emotions in infants and children, Vol. 2.
Izard, C. E., & Read, P. B. (1986) · Cited by 12 · see citing works
THE RELEVANCE OF ATTACHMENT THEORY TO CHILD PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE
Heard, D. H. (1981) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1981.tb00534.x · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy
Moffitt, T. E. (1993) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.4.674 · Cited by 9,987 · see citing works
Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants
Carlson, V., Cicchetti, D., Barnett, D., & Braunwald, K. (1989) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.25.4.525 · Cited by 677 · see citing works
Riggs, S. A. (2010) · Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma · doi:10.1080/10926770903475968 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Belsky, J., Jaffee, S. R., Sligo, J., Woodward, L., & Silva, P. A. (2005) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00852.x · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Attachment and Interpersonal Communication in Somatization
Stuart, S., & Noyes, R. (1999) · Psychosomatics · doi:10.1016/s0033-3182(99)71269-7 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Empirical evaluation of the assumptions in identifying evidence based treatments in mental health
Blatt, S. J., & Zuroff, D. C. (2005) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.03.001 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Attachment Styles and Aggression in Physically Abused and Neglected Children
Finzi, R., Ram, A., Har-Even, D., Shnit, D., & Weizman, A. (2001) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1023/a:1012237813771 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Critical age windows for neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders: evidence from animal models
Marco, E. M., Macrì, S., & Laviola, G. (2011) · Neurotoxicity Research · doi:10.1007/s12640-010-9205-z · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment
Velotti, P., Beomonte Zobel, S., Rogier, G., & Tambelli, R. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01166 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
“Due to the relational nature of IPV, attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) appears a useful framework to read the phenomenon and to better understand its components and its dynamics to provide more precise and tailored interventions in the future.”
BackgroundInfluentialIndiscriminate Amygdala Response to Mothers and Strangers After Early Maternal Deprivation
Olsavsky, A. K., Telzer, E. H., Shapiro, M., Humphreys, K. L., Flannery, J., Goff, B., & Tottenham, N. (2013) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.025 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
What helps the mother of a preterm infant become securely attached, responsive and well-adjusted?
Evans, T., Whittingham, K., & Boyd, R. (2012) · Infant Behavior and Development · doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.10.002 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Is there an adult form of separation anxiety disorder? A brief clinical report
Manicavasagar, V., & Silove, D. (1997) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/00048679709073835 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Asadi-Pooya, A. A., Brigo, F., Kozlowska, K., Perez, D. L., Pretorius, C., Sawchuk, T., Saxena, A., Tolchin, B., & Valente, K. D. (2021) · Epilepsy & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107903 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
A study on fear memory retrieval and REM sleep in maternal separation and isolation stressed rats
Sampath, D., Sabitha, K. R., Hegde, P., Jayakrishnan, H. R., Kutty, B. M., Chattarji, S., Rangarajan, G., & Laxmi, T. R. (2014) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2014.07.034 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Weston, R. (2008) · Journal of Family Violence · doi:10.1007/s10896-008-9176-5 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Adult attachment and Mindfulness: Examining directionality, causality, and theoretical implications
Stevenson, J. C., Millings, A., Emerson, L.-M., Sirois, F., & Rowe, A. C. (2021) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104043 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Prevalence of intimate partner violence and associated factors
Karakoc, B., Gulseren, L., Cam, B., Gulseren, S., Tenekeci, N., & Mete, L. (2015) · Nöro Psikiyatri Arşivi · doi:10.5152/npa.2015.7535 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Biberdzic, M., Tan, J., & Day, N. J. S. (2023) · Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation · doi:10.1186/s40479-022-00209-6 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Attachment theory postulates that early life experiences have an enduring effect on personality development through the formation of cognitive-affective templates of self and other, termed internal working models [10].”
Atzil–Slonim, D., Wiseman, H., & Tishby, O. (2016) · Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1080/10503307.2015.1010627 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Herres, J., Krauthamer Ewing, E. S., Levy, S., Creed, T. A., & Diamond, G. S. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1096291 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The attachment relationship refers to the bond that is formed between a parent and their child early in childhood that is reinforced over time, affecting ongoing interactions between the parent and their child and impacting the child’s emotional adjustment throughout their lifetime (34).”
BackgroundRussotti, J., Herd, T., Handley, E. D., Toth, S. L., & Noll, J. G. (2023) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/08862605221138654 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bowlby, J.
- Affiliations
- The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- John Bowlby
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 1988-01-01
- Volume
- 145
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-10
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W24506418
- Cited by
- 978
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 48.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- developmental psychiatry, child development, mental health, depression, adult depression, intimate relationships, psychoanalytic theory
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Child, Child Development, Child Psychiatry, Depressive Disorder, Ethology, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Object Attachment, Personality Development, Psychoanalytic Theory
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
