Children develop "attachment strategies" very early on to ensure they receive attention. They demonstrate remarkable adaptability, instinctively sensing what matters to those close to them. They would even prefer a negative relationship with their parents to a complete lack of interaction. What is essential for them is to feel cared for and protected—by their parents, of course, or otherwise by their extended family or other adults. Children act in ways that maximize their own sense of security. Raphaële Miljkovitch, Ph.D. in psychology, analyzes these attachment mechanisms.