Les études des relations sociales précoces : sommes-nous trop « sécure » avec l'attachement ou trop « attaché » à la sécurité ?

During the past thirty years, empirical research has amply demonstrated the central role of early mother-child relations for subsequent social, cognitive and affective development. However, this confirmation of the vital role of primary attachment for later personal development has been accompanied by a relative neglect of the contribution of other social partners to the emerging competence of the young child. A critical review of the attachment literature underscores the need to replace the monotropic model of primary attachment by a more systemic model of development within the polyadic context of the family. For both theoretical and empirical reasons, a social ecological approach to early development permits overcoming the prosocial, positivistic biases of a single dimension, dyadic model of early socialization. The formulation of more systemic, multi-dimensional models of early family relations promises to advance our understanding of the complex adaptive processes that serve as developmental foundations for children's emerging interpersonal competence.