1

Case Study: Insecure Bonding

Name

Institutional affiliation

Course

Professor

Date
 2

Case Study: Insecure Bonding

Case Summary

The case involves two young couples (Marissa and Tom) who are married and blessed

with one child (Donnie). Donnie is currently 17 months old. Both the couples are of the same

age, 21 years old. While Donnie was two months, Tom lost his job during the recuperation

period from childbirth, but he later found another job in another state that made him live with his

brother. Marissa later returned to school for her master's degree in occupational therapy, which

made her take the baby to a nearby group daycare during the weekdays. Financial constraints

made her apply for a student loan to pay her school fees. The problem began when Marissa took

Donnie to daycare. The caregiver did not provide adequate care to the children leaving them to

play everywhere and giving them unhealthy foodstuffs such as drinking juice and chocolate

candy bars. Due to poor parenting, the baby showed disturbing behaviours such as kicking his

mother and not wanting to be parented by his father. The baby developed bouts of colic and

would cry non-stop for several hours.

Social and Contextual Issues Faced by the Couple

The main issue affecting the couple is poor parenting. The baby lacks parental attachment

with the mother, the primary caregiver. Beginning with couples, marrying at an adolescent age

means their parents must give them more knowledge and education about the right time to get

married. Tom and Marissa's parents failed to guide them through adolescence to control their

sexual emotions and feelings. According to attachment theory, children's early experiences with

their primary caregivers, including security and protection, serve as the basis for their

socioemotional development and for building close relationships (Flaherty & Sadler, 2012).

Marissa is now practicing parental attachment avoidance by returning to school and leaving the
 3

baby with a secondary caregiver all day (Tiffin et al., 2007). Primary caregivers provide the baby

with a sense of protection and security. The baby feels safe when playing while the mother is

around. On the contrary, Donnie spends all day long in the daycare, where the caregiver leaves

the children to play alone with minimal supervision due to her arthritis problems.

Another issue affecting these couples is peer relationships and marriage while in

adolescence without knowledge of parenting. Typically, it is clear that the couples were involved

in a sexual relationship in adolescence since the baby was conceived when Marissa was 17 years

and some months. Adolescents begin preparing to develop their adulthood potential, and there

are lower levels of idealization toward their parents (Flaherty & Sadler, 2012). A 17-year-old

should be in school and focus on career development rather than marriage. Marissa and Tom say

their marriage is extremely stressful despite being happily married. Their marriage is stressful

because they have less understanding of parenting as children. Taking the baby to daycare from 7

in the morning to 6 p.m. is a long time that a small child will stay without bonding with the

mother. This made the baby develop fear and resistant behaviours, such as bouts and colic, that

made him cry non-stop for hours.

Attachment Issues in The Case

The attachment issue affecting marriage in the case study is adolescent parenting. The

parent-child relationship is considered significant but most enduring in one's life. Linked with

developmental, social, mental health, and educational outcomes for children, the quality of the

relationship between the parent and child plays a vital role in a child's success in life (Delgado et

al., 2022). The adolescence period is a significant turning point when children move to

adulthood. During adolescence, the parent's role is to guide their children through their roles in

adulthood. A healthy transition to adulthood is not defined by detachment from parents but by
 4

having a secure and emotionally connected relationship with parents. Tom and Marissa were not

well attached to their parents in their adolescence, exposing them to conceiving a baby at the age

of 17 years. Another attachment issue is the lack of primary care for Donnie. Young toddlers

need parental love, care, and connectedness to help them develop a sense of security. Children

who get care from their primary caregivers or parents can develop good relationships.

Donnie's attachment to his mother, Merissa, can be classified under the disorganized

attachment style. Causes of disorganized attachment include childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect

from their primary caregivers (Tiffin et al., 2007). Children with a disorganized attachment style

often do not show clear attachment behaviour. These children act or respond to their caregivers

with mixed behaviours, including resistance or avoidance. For example, in our case, Donnie

resists being with his father and cries for Marissa, but when Marissa holds him, he bites or kicks

her. Marissa took Donnie to daycare at 17 months and left him the entire day. At the daycare,

children are left to play independently with minimal supervision from the caregiver. This form of

parenting experience made Donnie become cruel, resistant and avoidance behaviours due to the

feeling of insecurity.

Future Implications of Insecure Bonding

Insecure bonding or attachment can affect the child's future in several ways. First,

insecure attachment can lead to the inability to develop and maintain healthy relationships or

jobs. Insecure attachment leads to avoidance or resistant behaviours from childhood and makes

an individual feel insecure in public places. These individuals tend to avoid social places and

neglect to build relationships due to fear of insecurity. They cannot control their emotions and

competently interact with their peers leading to anxiety. Adults who were raised with insecure

parental attachment often struggle to maintain relationships, resulting in failed marriages. Parent-
 5

child relationships play a vital role in influencing children's emotional and social development.

Adults with secure attachments can deal with negative emotions and feelings compared to those

who grew up with an insecure attachment parenting style. For instance, secure attachment adults

can resolve conflicts and do what it takes to maintain their relationships.

Second, insecure attachment can lead to the development of mental health problems.

Children who grow up with an insecure attachment style of parenting tend to develop anxiety,

stress and depression from lack of consistent parental love and care. These people have trouble

connecting emotionally with others. They may show aggressive or unpredictable behaviours

toward their loved ones. Insecure attachment, people fear or avoid commitments and

relationships. Lower self-esteem and dysfunctional attitudes or emotions mediate between

insecure attachment and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Anxiety and

depression are the most common mental health disorders that affect adolescents caused by poor

parenting, lack of relationship attachment, and inability to improve one's social identity.

Lastly, insecure bonding leads to involvement in unhealthy and unethical behaviours such

as alcohol and drug abuse, violence, eating disorders, and unhealthy sexual behaviours. Due to

the inability to cope with negative feelings and emotions, people with an insecure attachment

style are at risk of abusing drugs or excessive consumption of alcohol as a way of reducing their

emotions. Lack of parental connectedness can also leave adolescents with no choice but to

commit violent crimes such as suicide. Adolescents who grow up with insecure bonding may

engage in risky or irresponsible sexual behaviours leading to early pregnancies or marriages like

in the case of Marissa and Tom.

Recommendations
 6

Occupational therapy recommendations include creating more time to be with the baby as

a primary caregiver by shifting into digital or online learning that will enable Marissa to study

from home and at the same time bond with her baby. According to research, parents are taught

how to make their home adaptive to the baby and guide them on how to handle their children to

promote sensorimotor development properly (Harlaar et al., 2008). Children needs the presence

of their mothers when they feed or play to make them feel comfortable, happier, secured,

protected as the develop relationship with the surrounding environment. Environmental factors

like social support impact the quality of attachment (Harlaar et al., 2008). Thus, social support is

a protective factor recommended for parent-child attachment relationships. Adolescent mothers

like Marissa must understand that social support is vital in the child's future relationship

management and emotional control. According to attachment theory, social support in children

includes consistently showing emotional, material, appraisal, and physical support to children

from their birth to adulthood (Flaherty & Sadler, 2012). Donnie needs his parents` presence and

care during his active time to reduce his anxiety behaviour.

 7

References

Delgado, E., Serna, C., Martínez, I., & Cruise, E. (2022). Parental attachment and peer

relationships in adolescence: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental

Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1064. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031064

Flaherty, S. C., & Sadler, L. S. (2011). A review of attachment theory in the context of

adolescent parenting. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 25(2), 114–121.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.02.005

Harlaar, N., Santtila, P., Björklund, J., Alanko, K., Jern, P., Varjonen, M., von der Pahlen, B., &

Sandnabba, K. (2008). Retrospective reports of parental physical affection and parenting

style: A study of Finnish twins. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(4), 605–613.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.22.3.605

Tiffin, P. A., Pearce, M., Kaplan, C., Fundudis, T., & Parker, L. (2007). The impact of socio-

economic status and mobility on perceived family functioning. Journal of Family and

Economic Issues, 28(4), 653–667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-007-9077-4