Development of mother’s caregiving system in perspective of social attachment theory
This paper presents theoretical framework of mother’s caregiving system, that is the goal-corrected behavioral system reciprocal to attachment. It is guided by mental representations of self as a caregiver, child as an object of protection and mutual relation. Caregiving representational system is influenced by the adult’s history of attachment and current experiences with the child, his/her characteristics and social-contextual factors. Development of the caregiving system from childhood to adulthood, and particularly during transition to parenthood, is presented.
