Investigating Developing Attachment Relationships: Infants with Hearing Loss and Complex Needs

A key part of any child’s development is forming a secure attachment relationship. Yet there is a scarcity in the research investigating attachment development in infants with hearing loss and complex needs (HL-CN). Such infants often receive varied services to support their learning and development. Parents of infants with HL-CN often experience higher amounts of stress, anxiety, depression, prolonged grief and trauma in comparison to parents of typically-developing infants. The current study proposed that an accumulation of risk factors may have an adverse impact on the attachment process, and that hearing loss alone was not a determinant for attachment insecurity. The study thus aimed to better understand how attachment develops in infants with HL-CN and their caregivers. It also asked whether the infant’s early childhood intervention service provider could facilitate the development of attachment relationships. The study took a mixed-methods approach to a multiple-case study embedded design to explore these questions. It utilised interviews, self-report psychometric questionnaires, documentation, videotaped mother-infant interactions and service provider-infant interactions, during early childhood intervention therapy sessions. The CARE-Index and an original video-coding scheme were used to analyse the videotaped observations. Findings from the study revealed that in infants with HL-CN, the attachment process takes much longer, with an accumulation of risk and protective factors, including the presence of the service provider, influencing the likelihood of secure attachments. The implications of these findings are discussed, as well as future directions for attachment in infants with HL-CN