Trust vs. Mistrust: Psychosocial Stage 1

The trust versus mistrust stage is the first stage of psychologist Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. This stage begins at birth and lasts until your child is around 18 months old. According to Erikson, it is the most important period of your child's life, as it shapes their view of the world as well as their overall personality.

Erikson's psychosocial development theory has seven other stages that span throughout a person's lifetime. At each stage, people face conflicts that can result in gaining psychological strength or being left with a weakness.

The Importance of Trust

Babies are almost entirely dependent on their caregivers. So it should come as no surprise that how parents interact with their babies has a profound effect on both their physical and mental health.

Erikson believed that early patterns of trust help children build a strong base of trust that's crucial for their social and emotional development. If a child successfully develops trust, they will feel safe and secure in the world. You're essentially shaping their personality and determining how they will view the world.

How To Build Trust

The primary way you can build trust with your baby is to respond when they try to communicate with you. Because babies can't use words to express themselves, they use nonverbal strategies to communicate what they're thinking and feeling at all times.

Crying is one of the most common strategies babies use to communicate with their caregivers, and it carries different meanings. Usually, babies cry to let you know that they need one of the following:

• Affection: Erikson believed that an infant's cries communicated an important message to caregivers. Such cries indicate an unmet need, and it is up to caregivers to determine how to fulfill that need.
• Comfort: It is important for caregivers to provide comfort to an infant by holding them closely and securely. This provides both warmth and physical contact. Feeding, bathing, and comforting your child helps them learn to trust that their needs will be met.
• Food: Erikson also believed that feeding played a pivotal role in the development of trust. By feeding an infant when the child is hungry, they learn that they can trust their need for nourishment will be met.

Every baby communicates differently, so becoming familiar with your baby's communication style is the key to success at this stage. Noticing and responding to these signals, whether they are cries, body movements, coos, or even words, helps them learn to trust you and the world around them.

Consequences of Mistrust

Children raised by consistently unreliable, unpredictable parents who fail to meet these basic needs eventually develop an overall sense of mistrust.

Mistrust can cause children to become fearful, confused, and anxious, all of which make it difficult to form healthy relationships. This, in turn, can lead to poor social support, isolation, and loneliness.

One study done with female twins, both identical and fraternal, concluded that a trusting personality seems to be at least in part genetic, while a mistrustful or distrusting personality seems to be learned from family and other social influences.

A Word From Verywell

The trust versus mistrust stage serves as a foundation of development. The outcomes of this stage can have effects that influence the rest of an individual's life. Because of this, it is essential for parents to provide responsive, dependable care.