July 1997 Implications for Separation and Placement of Infants Infants' cognitive limitations greatly increase their experience of stress. Without a well-developed cognitive perception of the event, any change is threatening. Infants will be extremely distressed simply by changes in the environment and the absence of trusted caregivers.
Infants have few internal coping skills.
When deprived of adults whom they have learned to trust and upon whom they can depend, they are more vulnerable to the effects of internal and external stresses. The infant experiences the absence of caregivers as immediate, total, and complete. Infants generally do not turn to others for help and support in the absence of their primary caregivers. Infants who have lost their primary caregivers often cannot be comforted by social workers, foster parents, or others. If separation occurs during the first year, it can interfere with the development of trust, the foundation of positive self-image, worldview, and later social development.