Abstract

A growing interest has been devoted to the definition of integrated approaches for the study of behavioral, neural and psychophysiological correlates of affective-relational development, as precursors or basis of the organization of attachment in the first year. Research from 1990 to 2010 focus on infant's early interactive competences (gaze, vocalization), neural correlates (EEG, ERP) or psychophysiological correlates (cortisol, vagal tone) related to the quality of infant attachment to the caregiver. The main aim of this review is to underline the importance of an integrative perspective in the study of the complexity of infant-caregiver attachment in terms of experimental procedure and clinical point of view.