Stranger anxiety
Have you ever been in an embarrassing situation where you thought that a child is scared of you and he started clinging on his caregiver as soon as you spoke with him? Well don’t be, because it is not your fault. The child is experiencing stranger anxiety.
Stranger anxiety is the feeling of fear and distress that infants and young children manifest when approached by an unfamiliar person. It is normal behavior that a child develops between eight months and two years of age as he or she develops cognitive skills and recognizes the familiar faces around with whom he or she forms a bond. During this stage, the infant or the young child becomes very attached to a caregiver and extremely cautious when spoken to or touched by a “stranger.” According to Harry Harlow, and through his monkey experiments, touch is a major factor in a child’s life for forming and building a relationship and trust with the adult around. That is the reason why every time a stranger comes near, whether a family member or friend, a young child tends to hold onto the caregiver’s clothing or an infant climbs on the the caregiver's chest. Also, the child may cry, hide, crawl away, and suck the thumb.
Stranger anxiety is a clear indication that the child or infant is developing adequately, but the severity differs from one child to another depending on his or her temperament and the level of attachment. If the child is fussy and temperamental, he or she cries and screams repeatedly until his anxiety wears off, while an easygoing child may be anxious and even cry the first couple of times of exposure to a stranger but then becomes more comfortable with the situation. Attachment is another factor that affects the severity of stranger anxiety in young children and infants, for a child who feels securely attached to his caregiver, tends to express his or her anxiety very lightly.
Parents of a child with stranger anxiety feel torn between encouraging their child to avoid strangers and helping them open up and be socially accepting. Also, their daily routines become very disturbed by a visit from a family member or a friend. Stranger anxiety is an adaptive behavior a child acquires as a part of his or her mental learning, and it is an inevitable stage of life.
References
Myers,D.G.(2013). Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishing
Stranger Anxiety retrieved from http://www.ocd.pitt.edu/Files/PDF/Foster/27758_ocd_stranger_anxiety.pdf
Stranger anxiety is the feeling of fear and distress that infants and young children manifest when approached by an unfamiliar person. It is normal behavior that a child develops between eight months and two years of age as he or she develops cognitive skills and recognizes the familiar faces around with whom he or she forms a bond. During this stage, the infant or the young child becomes very attached to a caregiver and extremely cautious when spoken to or touched by a “stranger.” According to Harry Harlow, and through his monkey experiments, touch is a major factor in a child’s life for forming and building a relationship and trust with the adult around. That is the reason why every time a stranger comes near, whether a family member or friend, a young child tends to hold onto the caregiver’s clothing or an infant climbs on the the caregiver's chest. Also, the child may cry, hide, crawl away, and suck the thumb.
Stranger anxiety is a clear indication that the child or infant is developing adequately, but the severity differs from one child to another depending on his or her temperament and the level of attachment. If the child is fussy and temperamental, he or she cries and screams repeatedly until his anxiety wears off, while an easygoing child may be anxious and even cry the first couple of times of exposure to a stranger but then becomes more comfortable with the situation. Attachment is another factor that affects the severity of stranger anxiety in young children and infants, for a child who feels securely attached to his caregiver, tends to express his or her anxiety very lightly.
Parents of a child with stranger anxiety feel torn between encouraging their child to avoid strangers and helping them open up and be socially accepting. Also, their daily routines become very disturbed by a visit from a family member or a friend. Stranger anxiety is an adaptive behavior a child acquires as a part of his or her mental learning, and it is an inevitable stage of life.
References
Myers,D.G.(2013). Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishing
Stranger Anxiety retrieved from http://www.ocd.pitt.edu/Files/PDF/Foster/27758_ocd_stranger_anxiety.pdf