[Attachment process between an infant and his/her mother: the first year]

Attachment theory is focused upon the development of the attachment process organized jointly by the child and the environmental factors which contribute to the development of the feeling of security. The authors focus on the mother-baby relationships and describe the normative process of attachment relationships during the first year of life. The ethologic perspective of this development is also summarized. The steps of the developing attachment relationship are described. The description of motherhood is focused on the bonding process, which is a more immediate and biologically based process and on caregiving which is a symmetrical motivational system as complex as the attachment one. The main factors known as having an impact on the two processes are described.