What is an Attachment?
In psychology, attachment is the emotional relation that links us to other people like our parents. Also, it describes the emotional and physical bond that is created between the infant/child and their caregiver (typically a parent). This theory is called attachment theory. Attachment theory was originated by John Bowlby.
Stranger Situation Study
The Stranger situation was created by psychologist Mary Ainsworth. It is an experimental procedure in which an infant’s reaction is monitored when their mother leaves the child in the room.
The study consisted of a sequence of events involving the participants (child, mother, and stranger). The procedure was comprised of eight episodes:
- Mother carries the baby into the room while accompanied by an observer.
- Mother placed the baby at a specific point in the room for the next three minutes. Mother sat quietly in a chair and would not engage with her baby unless the baby wanted attention.
- A stranger entered the room and causally plays with baby while the mother is in the room. Eventually the other leaves the room
- If the baby wanted to play then the stranger wouldn’t engage in pay with the child. If the baby was inactive, the stranger would try to engage with baby. However if the infant was distressed, the stranger tires to comfort or distract the baby.
- Mother enters to see how the baby would respond when they saw her. Stranger leaves the room. After the baby settled in by playing with toys. Then the mother leaves after saying “bye-bye.”
- The baby is alone for three minutes
- Stranger enters the room and behaves like step four.
- Mother comes back to the room. Stranger leaves. The experiment is done.
Dr. Ainsworth scored the behaviors on a 7-point scale between five classes: proximity and contact-seeking behaviors, contact-maintaining, proximity- and interaction-avoiding , contact-and interaction-resisting and search.
The Main Attachment Styles
There are four styles of attachment styles that have been discovered from the Stranger Situation study: secure, avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized/disoriented.
Secure Attachment
Secure attachment is when the parent(s) provide a reliable and secure base that makes their children feel confident. The children also feels confident in their parent’s availability. The parent is sensitive to respond when needed while the child explores the environment freely. When the child is able to explore the environment freely, there is a haven of safety created by the parents whenever the child feels distressed. The child can rely on the parent for comfort.
Ambivalent Attachment
Ambivalent attachment, known as anxious-resistent or preoccupied attachment, is when the child is not able to predict their parent availability. The parent are not responsive to the emotional needs. The child feels like the parent is unreliable because the parent does not respond to their needs at the given time. The child will develop an anxious pattern of attachment in which they are uncertain if they stranger will respond to their need or the parent will. Mothers do not let their child adventure off, explore and engage in autonomous activities (thinking for oneself and feeling independent).
Avoidant Attachment
Avoidant Attachment, known as anxious-avoidant attachment, is when the child ignores or avoid their parent. The parent is unavailable to the emotional needs or is not responsive to their child most of the time. The child learns prematurely how to be independent. It suppresses their desire to seek out their parent for comfort. Child build defensive mechanisms from the rejection by the parent to feel safe and relieve emotions of distress. The chid relies on self-soothing (conscious breathing, engaging positive self talk, …) and opportunities that seek attachment or support from others.
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment
Disorganized/Disoriented attachment was the fourth classification brought up by research Mary Main and Judith Solomon. Their research found that the parents can’t create a secure base for their child. The child will show inconsistent and often contradictory behavior because their parents are unpredictable and send mix signals by being avoidant or resistant. Children are naturally hardwire to seek comfort from their parents but are afraid to do so. Child are described to have erratic or dazed behavior. Children with disorganized/disoriented attachment can develop into one of the other attachment styles.
There will be two other posts that will discuss the parenting style on each attachment and how these attachment styles influence the relationship in adulthood.
References
Ainsworth, M. (1978). The Bowlby-Ainsworth attachment theory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(3), 436-438. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00075828
Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Bell, S. M. (1970). Attachment, exploration, and separation: Illustrated by the behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Child development, 49-67. doi:10.2307/1127388
Cassidy, J., & Berlin, L. J. (1994). The insecure/ambivalent pattern of attachment: Theory and research. Child development, 65(4), 971-991. doi:10.2307/1131298
Cassidy, J., Jones, J., & Shaver, P. (2013). Contributions of attachment theory and research: A framework for future research, translation, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 25(4pt2), 1415-1434. doi:10.1017/S0954579413000692
Catlett, J., M.A. (2018, December 28). Avoidant attachment: Understanding insecure avoidant attachment. Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.psychalive.org/anxious-avoidant-attachment/ Davis, S. (2018, October 22). Anxious/ambivalent attachment style: An examination of its causes and how it affects adult relationships. Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://cptsdfoundation.org/2018/10/22/anxious-ambivalent-attachment-style-an-examination-of-its-causes-and-how-it-affects-adult-relationships/
Duschinsky R. (2015). The emergence of the disorganized/disoriented (D) attachment classification, 1979-1982. History of psychology, 18(1), 32–46.
Firestone, L., Ph.D. (2019, March 14). Disorganized attachment: How attachment forms & how it can be healed. Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.psychalive.org/disorganized-attachment/
Howe T.R. (2011) Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment. In: Goldstein S., Naglieri J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA
McLeod, S. (2018, August 5). Mary Ainsworth. Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html#sec
Mikko J. Peltola, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Santeri Yrttiaho. (2020) Attachment security and cortical responses to fearful faces in infants. Attachment & Human Development 22:2, pages 174-188.
Orloff, J., M.D. (2018, October 18). Self-soothing strategies: 8 ways to calm anxiety and stress. Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empaths-survival-guide/201810/self-soothing-strategies-8-ways-calm-anxiety-and-stress
Pelly, J., M.A. (2019, September 27). What Is Avoidant Attachment? Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/avoidant-attachment#what-does-it-look-like
Pelly, J., M.A. (2019, September 27). What is disorganized attachment? Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/disorganized-attachment#prevention
Plotka R. (2011) Ambivalent Attachment. In: Goldstein S., Naglieri J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA
Weinhold, J. (2018, July 24). Are you attachment-informed? Retrieved March 08, 2020, from https://coprofdevcenter.org/are-you-attachment-informed/
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