What Parents Can Benefit by Knowing About What Science is Telling Us About Child Development - Key Points

 This blog entry is really a summary of the text Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self by Alan N. Schore, 1994

The 540 pgs. of actual text of this volume begins a trilogy of texts recounting a plethora of psychological and neurobiological research of the 20^th century preceding its publication. The information in these books is so comprehensive, extensive, complex, detailed and dense that it begs ‘translation’ into more everyday language for most of us. This is particularly so because it is a fascinating account that can only enrich and aid the parenting process, the development of the child, if it is understood and applied. With that in mind, I am herewith attempting to summarize the salient points of these volumes to make them more accessible to a wider audience. Here I have in mind particularly parents of infants and toddlers, and those planning to become parents.

 

Let me begin by summarizing what these books give us. There is discussion of the genetic development that takes place in the brain prior to birth. I will interject here an important understanding that scientists have also shown us in the last century. Those with whom we interact, the environment, can change the dictates of the genes. This is known as epigenetics. The genes are not changed, but what transpires between them and their expression in real life can be altered in such a way that it can be passed on. In this way, even the prenatal environment of a potential parent can indirectly affect what that parent brings to the rearing of her child.

 

The real essence of what these books report though is as follows:

1.     First of all, the emphasis is on postnatal development. What the newborn brings to that is a genetically predetermined sequence of development which, as I just said, can also be influenced neurobiologically by the parents’ prior life and development. 

2.     The infant’s genetically programmed system of development is activated rapidly in infant development by stimuli in the environment, particularly the interactions with the chief caregiver, generally the mother.

3.     This sequence of development is also very much time-related. When certain elements coming from the environment do not appear at the correct time, or are abnormal when they do present themselves to the infant, development begins to deviate from normal and healthy. 

4.     These interactions are imprinted on, and indeed, influence brain development, providing a template for all future interactions and emotional relationships.

5.     This is now beginning to be understood as the genesis of neuropsychiatric, developmental and personality disorders, indeed, much of the range of psychopathology which psychology and psychiatry deal with in their therapeutic attempts to correct the abnormal development that has occurred.

6.     If ‘all goes according to plan,’ what can emerge is a well-integrated and organized system of structure and function that is stable as well as adaptable and which provides the basis for the developing self.

7.     Much of this has already taken place during the infant’s nonverbal stage, before verbal language really begins to develop.

8.     The interactions and the modulating modeling provided within this dyadic framework also determine the critical ability of the infant to self-regulate emotions and behavior.

 

As has so often been said, timing is everything, although that is somewhat of an exaggeration here. What the parent brings to the process in terms of their own maturity and ability to interact with the infant and toddler in such a way as to facilitate normal development is also critical. Fortunately, as Winnicott famously said with his reference to ‘good enough fit’, there is some wiggle room in the process.

 

Here is where we can refer briefly to application:

1.     First of all, if parents know something of these stages of development, it can aid their knowledge of what they can do to further the process in the best interests of the parent-child dyad. 

2.     Secondly, when therapists also know of development in this way, and how it can go wrong and the implications of that, they can engineer their efforts in ways that can help counter those errors.

 

NOTE: The above represents a return to a project begun shortly after my retirement, as this material had been the subject of study by our infant, child and adolescent team at the time. To delve further into this area, I refer the reader to earlier entries in this blog such as:

1.     2015 11 5                    A. Child Development: Parenting and Relationship – Beginnings:

a.     Bonding, Attunement and Attachment                                    

2.     2015 11 7                    B. Child Development: Not all in the Genes – The Environment is 

a.     More Than You Think                                                                        

3.     2015 11 9                    C. Right, Left, Forward March                                                                       

4.     2015 11 12                  D. Move Left to Get Ahead                                                                            

5.     2015 8 11                    E. Go for It, But Know When to Back off (Rupture and Repair)                    

6.     2016 4 4                      Bullying and Resilience                                                                                   

7.     2016 5 5                      Parenting I                                                                                                       

8.     2016 8 20                    Child Development VII – The First Two Months a. Setting the Stage