Scientific Validation of Emotional Availability

Attachment theory began in the 1950s with the work of John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who observed young children's reactions to separation from their parents and their reactions to loss.  He also studied children in unusual circumstances, such as those raised in institutions.  On the basis of his observations of infants and young children as well as his extensive knowledge of the field of ethology, he concluded that the young of all species come into this world biologically prepared to love and to attach to a loving caregiver.  He believed, and it has been documented, that all children are attached to the individuals who take care of them.  So unless a child is raised in an institution or there are many changes in the caregiving environment (such as foster care), children attach and love their parents.  It is a biological imperative because it guarantees the survival of a species.  All children are better off being connected with a wiser adult than they are taking care of themselves.

Zeynep Biringen, Ph.D. has spent the last twenty years conducting research on emotional availability in parent-child relationships, adding to the growing body of scientific knowledge on the subject that has been amassed in the field of child-parent attachment.  Dr. Biringen has since become the foremost researcher on emotional availability in parent-child relationships.  She has spearheaded the understanding of emotional availability as a rigorous scientific assessment of parent-child relationships, and has observed thousands of hours of child-parent interactions in a wide variety of cultures. Numerous colleagues nationally and internationally are doing important work on emotional availability, testing its effectiveness as an observational and self-report assessment. Special issues in journals have been dedicated to disseminating these national and international contributions (including in Attachment and Human Development, 2000, Infant Mental Health Journal, 2005, and Parenting: Science and Practice, upcoming. This website will provide the references for additional disseminations to the scientific community.

Dr. Biringen's first book, Raising a Secure Child:  Creating an Emotional Connection Between You and Your Child, (published in 2004 by Penguin), distilled over 40 years of research on attachment and two decades of research on emotional availability into a single volume.  It was the first book that described this scientifically validated work for parents and other caregivers, and allowed parents not only a clear and measurable way to understand if a child is emotionally secure and his/her emotional needs are being met, but also a way to assess themselves "on the job."  Several chapters from this book will be available on this website so that parents and/or practitioners can begin to use these principles.