What is the importance of physical contact in childhood?

Physical contact in childhood has been proven to be vitally necessary. So much so that if this does not occur, the proper development of the child may be affected.

The human baby, compared to other offspring of other species, is more fragile, requiring physical and emotional contact with her caregiver to be able to survive, grow properly and develop one of the most remarkable characteristics of the human being, such as being beings sociable.

This need for physical contact is already shown in the first moments of life, with direct contact between the newborn and his mother being recommended. hand-to-hand contact, in order to more easily develop the bond between them, which is so important for the proper growth of the kid. This first physical contact will mark the physical contact in later ages.

In this article We will see what drives the child to seek this physical contact, as well as the importance of this in the correct development of the child and the alterations that may occur if there is no adequate physical contact, if the child's support figure is not present or is present but inadequately.

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Why physical contact in childhood is essential

Physical contact between caregiver and child has been described as both a physical and emotional need, being considered a fundamental factor to fulfill the emotional and affective security of the child. In the same way, benefits of physical contact have also been observed in other areas such as the motor, cognitive and motor area.

When conducting studies focused on the first years of an individual's life, the childhood period, it has been proven that the satisfaction of basic needs such as are physiological needs, the need to feel protected from danger, the need to explore his environment, the need to play and the need to bond affective.

In order to adequately satisfy these basic needs, the child's physical contact with a representative figure will be essential. This need for contact with another individual leads to the appearance of a bond between the infant and the support person, person who tries to satisfy the needs of the child. This link is known in Psychology by the name of attachment.

We can say that the bond leads to the need for physical contact, and physical contact is essential for the bond to continue to form correctly, and thus create a secure attachment. Similarly, affective needs cannot be satisfied if there is no physical contact between the child and the attachment figure.

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What is attachment?

Attachment is defined as the affective bond of a person or animal with another of the same species; this bond drives them to be together in space and time. It is a long process, which begins to develop in the second month of life and lasts a lifetime. Although it seems that the most sensitive period, where separation anxiety can occur, is from 6 months to 2 years.

The need for physical contact that the child has during early childhood will cause him to present a tendency to approach the attachment figure and thus maintain physical proximity and communicate with it.

The author who initiated the attachment studies was John bowlby, who considered it as a control system with biological influence (innate) directed to a goal and motivated by the need to feel security. That is the attachment figure, for example the parent, provides a secure base for the child to move around and explore the external environment.

Ainsworth described three types of attachment: secure attachment, the most common and with which the child exhibits appropriate behavior, seeking contact with the parent and exploring the outside, and two forms of insecure attachment, the avoidant or rejecting, the child is indifferent to the attachment figure and the ambivalent or resistant, remains close but at the same time resists the Contact.

Mention is also made of disorganized attachment, which is a combination of the two insecure attachments, with the child presenting a contradictory behavior towards the mother.

It was observed that the mother's sensitivity to the child's needs was of vital importance. The children with secure attachment had kind, receptive mothers, who were not annoying and did not mistreat the child, presenting adequate physical and emotional contact.

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Studies that show the importance of physical contact

As we have already pointed out, Bowlby observed a tendency in young children to seek proximity, physical contact, with a representative figure, a special relationship that the author calls attachment.

Other studies done with primates supported the need for physical contact that the young had. Harlow and Harlow observed that the main cause for forming the bond, the attachment between the baby chimpanzees and their mothers, was not the need to be fed, but the need for warm physical contact with your mother.

This fact is confirmed with the realization of a study where they separated the baby from her attachment figure, for later let them choose between a cold doll but that provides them with food or a doll without food but covered in a soft plush. The authors saw that the pups showed a preference for the doll with a warm texture, corroborating the importance of adequate physical contact in the child.

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Effects of non-physical contact in boys and girls

The child is especially vulnerable to separation from the attachment figure, which consequently entails the loss of physical contact with it. It has been seen that between the period of 6 months to 2 years this vulnerability intensifies; If there is loss of the support figure, it can cause physiological and psychological alterations in the infant. These affectations are divided into two groups according to whether they occur in the short or long term.

Short term

The child may have stress, agitation, and depressive spectrum symptoms. Bowlby observed that the evolution of this anxiety-depressive clinic develops in three phases.

In the first phase called the protest phase, loud crying and escape attempts appear in the child, after a period of time, in the ambivalence phase (or despair), if the attachment figure returns the child shows disinterest, finally in the adaptation phase (or detachment), if the conditions are favorable she can develop a new link.

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Long-term

If the child is unable to adjust to the separation and new contacts are not established, it is possible that the child may have intellectual retardation, problems in social relationships and may even die.

Disorders due to lack of physical contact

As we have already mentioned, the lack of adequate physical contact between the child and the support figure the correct appearance of the link between them will be difficult, the appearance of attachment. It has been seen that this alteration in attachment can lead to short-term alterations, some of them already mentioned, as well as disorders in later ages.

Spitz observed that institutionalized children between 6 and 12 months who had previously had a normal relationship with the mother. As it disappears from her, and consequently the child loses physical and emotional contact with her, depending on the duration of this period, the child could show two different conditions.

In the first months, after the loss of contact between 1 and 3 months with the support figure, the child presented crying, withdrawal, weight loss, and vulnerability to illness, a condition that Spitz called depression anaclitic.

If this loss of contact with the protective figure persisted, after 3 or 5 months, the child could develop hospitalism syndrome, presenting a total passivity, empty facial expression, developmental and intellectual delay or even death, known as death by marasmus.

Bond-related disorders

In this section we will mention two disorders related to poor attachment, that is, with an alteration of the bond.

In both disorders, the presence of social neglect is a common and indispensable requirement for these to occur, and to be considered attachment disorders. This negligence is due to an absence of adequate care during childhood, characterized by social abandonment or lack of emotional stimulation, non-satisfaction of the physical needs, repeated changes in the support figure, which does not allow bonding or nurturing in unusual places where physical and emotional contact is non-existent or very scarce.

DSM 5, a diagnostic manual published by the APA, classifies two attachment-related disorders. First, reactive attachment disorder, presents as an internalization disorder of depressive symptoms and for a withdrawal behavior, children with this affectation, shows an alteration both social as emotional.

Secondly, uninhibited social relationship disorderAs its name indicates, it will be characterized by uninhibited behavior and outsourcing behavior.