As a consequence of the prolonged period of helplessness during infancy, children depend on supportive caregiving relationships to function properly. This thesis is the central tenet of attachment theory, which is central to understanding emotional development of children. John Bowlby, the prime author of attachment theory, argued that to assure survival, infants need to be physically close to the caregiver and form an enduring emotional bond.
Infants are equipped to play a primative role in their own regulation (by sending “signals” of distress), however they are not capable of self-regulation, only “co-regulation” which requires ample assistance from caregivers (see the article by Alan Sroufe, 2000). In daily exchanges of signals with their caregivers children learn to turn their emotional reactions into regulated emotions (e.g. returning to being calm after distress).  Without such nurturing exchanges (due to the child’s inability to signal or to the caregiver’s unresponsiveness to the child), infants are left struggling to comfort themselves. They may become emotionally reactive, operating on such global emotions as anger or rage and fear or avoidance, or give up and repress their emotions, becoming passive and self-absorbed.  In his research, Schore (2001a,b) postulates that attuned caregivers interactively regulate the infant’s positive and negative states, thereby co-constructing the kind of environment needed for maturation of a control system in the right brain of the infant, and thus playing the key role in the child’s emotional development.
    Thus, development of self-regulation and emotional expression in infants occur within the brain and are modulated by attachment relationships.
By Maryna Vashchenko

References:
Schore, A. N. (2001a). Effects of a secure attachment relationship on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1-2), 7-66.
Schore, A. N. (2001b). The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1-2), 201-269.
Sroufe, L. A. (2000). Early relationships and the development of children. Infant Mental Health Journal, 21(1-2), 67-74.