Comfort and support in the interest of personal growth.
Support for a child’s basic psychological growth and development and responsiveness to the child’s needs, hopes, fears, and aspirations. For the child to develop normally, at least one person in his or her life often, but not necessarily, a parent must supply that nurturance, a process that usually starts with bonding. Failure to supply that support constitutes a real, though rarely provable, form of child abuse and neglect, and can lead to maternal deprivation syndrome or failure to thrive.