The central theme of Scattered Minds is the idea that attention deficit disorder (ADD) is a defensive state that arises from an inadequate emotional relationship with one’s primary caregiver. The healthy functioning of this relationship is called “attunement.” Maté believes that attunement is necessary for the normal development of the neurochemicals and mental structures that control emotional self-regulation. This relationship cannot simply reinforce the parent’s expectations; rather, it must point back to the child, creating an emotional realm of unconditional positive regard. Maté further insists that the infant is intuitively sensitive to the real psychological states of the parent and is unconvinced by feigned attempts to soothe the infant, which may merely transfer anxiety or depression onto the child; instead, the parent must “remain herself in a relatively nonstressed, non-anxious, nondepressed state of mind” (73). Only this long-term emotional stability can provide the infant with a sense of being authentically secure.

Maté believes that attunement is a verifiable need for healthy infant development. The “double TV experiment,” which Maté references on Page 72, describes an experiment in which infants and mothers were placed in separate rooms and interacted with one another via closed circuit televisions.