Attachment Theory

1. Attachment Theory

2. Definition of Attachment An enduring emotional tie to a special person, characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain closeness, especially during times of stress. • Necessary for newborn survival • Aids normal human development • Normally an attachment to mother

3. Importance of Attachment • Implications for infant's sense of security • Freud, Erikson, Behaviorists described its impact on development

4. Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Preattachment phase • Birth - 6 weeks • Baby’s innate signals attract caregiver • Caregivers remain close by when the baby responds positively

5. Attachment in the Making • 6 wks to 6-8 months • Develops a sense of trust that caregiver will respond when signaled • Infants respond more positively to familiar caregiver • Babies don't protest when separated from parent

6. Clear-cut Attachment • 6-8 months to 18-24 months • Babies display separation anxiety • Babies protest when parent leaves

7. Formation of Reciprocal Relationship • 18 mo - 2yrs • Toddlers increase their understanding of symbols and language improves • Toddlers understand that parents will return

8. Factors which Affect Attachment • Opportunity for attachment • Quality of caregiving • respond promptly and consistently • interactional synchrony – the sensitively tuned “emotional dance” • Infant characteristics • infant's temperament, special needs, prematurity, or illnesses

9. More Factors which Affect Attachment • Family circumstances • Stress can undermine attachment • Parents’ internal working models • Parents’ own attachment experiences • Parents’ ability to accept their past

10. Measuring the Quality of Attachment • Mary Ainsworth researched • Designed the “strange situation” • A lab experiment with 8 different episodes of separation and reunion • Attached infant will: • Use mother as a secure base • Be soothed by the mother during the reunion

11. Secure attachment • Uses caregiver as a secure base • May show distress at separation, but the baby can be soothed at reunion • 60-65% of North American children

12. Insecure-Avoidant Attachment • Unresponsive to parent when she is present • Not distressed by parting • Avoids or slow to greet parent on return • 20% of North American children • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD771ASTMes

13. Insecure-Resistant Attachment • Infants remain close to parents and not eager to explore • Distressed by separation • During reunion, infants are both clingy and resistant • 12% of North American children • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UW6R7JVE8M

14. Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment • No coherent strategy for handling separations or reunions • Baby looks dazed and confused • 5-10% of North American children • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDqJYEi_Ks

15. Attachment Theory Attachment refers to a very close and affectionate bond between an infant and a care-giver. The bond us usually formed with the mother, however, it can be just as strong with a highly involved father. Failure to thrive involves babies not developing (growing) or even dying due to a lack of attachment. In World War II, orphaned babies in hospitals turned their heads to the wall and died in spite of being fed and changed. When nurse held the children – they did much better, gained weight and reached developmental milestones.

16. Theorists • Mary Ainsworth • Harry Harlow • John Bowlby

17. Harry Harlow Food or Security? Harlow's study on monkeys' attachment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI • In 1966, Harlow provided baby rhesus monkeys with two mother options: one wire-framed with a bottle, the other with a comfortable cloth surrounding its wire frame. • The babies went to the bottle only for feeding and would choose to spend the majority of their time (several hours) with the “comforting” mother.

18. John Bowlby During the 1960s and 1970s: -Bowlby established connections between infant behavior and the behaviors of parents. -Smiling and clinging are examples of baby behavior that resulted in adult soothing and comforting. -Bowlby also noted stages of separation behavior demonstrated by infants/children (8 months to 3 years old). • Protest- crying and searching • Despair- child becomes quiet • Detachment- child withdraws as though cut-off from world

19. Regression • When children have gone through separation, they may revert back to earlier stages of attachment. e.g. bed-wetting, thumb-sucking, or wanting a bottle. (may make them feel more comfortable, by reminding them of a time when they felt more secure)

20. Mary Ainsworth -infants require a “secure base” from which to begin their exploration of the world. -children had varying responses when a parent returned after being away. 1) Secure Infants: were comfortable with parents and sometimes sought contact. 2) Anxious Avoidant Infants: turned away and avoided their parents’ touch. 3) Anxious Ambivalent Infants: showed resistance or anger when their parents returned. The Strange Situation- Mary Ainsworth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU The Strange Situation- Mary Ainsworth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU

21. Trust and Attachment • The best way for parents to foster attachment is to create a sense of trust with their children, by responding to their needs. • Needs are typically voiced in the form of a cry. When a newborn cries and a care-giver responds, the baby learns that the world is a safe, loving place. This is essential for lifelong social and emotional development. • Lesson: Always respond to a baby when it cries, because this will teach it to communicate well later in life.

22. Importance of Attachment • Proper development • Sleeping and eating disorders less common • Emotions handled better • Close attachment = less likely to experience abuse • Set template for other relationships • Promotes good mental health

23. What is your type? • I find it relatively easy to get close to other people. I am comfortable depending on other people and having them depend on me. I don’t usually worry about being abandoned or about having someone get too close to me.

24. What is your type? B. I find it difficult to trust people completely. I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others. I feel nervous when people start to get too close. Often, I feel like people want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being. I find it difficult to allow myself to depend on other people.

25. What is your type? C. I find that other people are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often worry that someone I am close to doesn’t really love me or won’t want to stay with me. I want to merge completely with another person, but this sometimes scares people away.

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