7: Attachment and Relationships Flashcards
(31 cards)
What are the characteristics of attachment?
- Comfort and security (secure base)
- Selectivity
- Proximity seeking and separation distress
- Encouragement of exploration
Long-lasting important relationship with a specific person
What is the difference between bonding and attachment?
- Bonding occurs in the first weeks after birth, focusing on parental feelings
- Attachment develops in the first two years of life, focusing on the child’s relationship with the parent
- Bonding is not linked to later development, while attachment is
Bonding describes the parent’s perspective, while attachment describes the child’s perspective.
List the stages of attachment as described by Schaffer & Emerson (1964).
- Asocial (0-6 weeks)
- Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks - 6/7 months)
- Specific attachments (7-9 months)
- Multiple attachment (9+ months)
Each stage marks a developmental milestone in attachment formation.
What is the main premise of Psychoanalytical Theory regarding attachment?
Attachment is based on feeding, where the mother feeds the child, leading to attachment to her
Freud’s theory suggests that attachment arises primarily from the act of feeding.
What did Harlow & Zimmerman (1958) demonstrate about attachment?
Attachment is more than feeding; contact is crucial for attachment formation
* Motherless infant monkeys
* Reared by 2 surrogates – wire mother and cloth mother
* Fed by wire mother
* 15+ hrs/day on cloth mother , 1 hr on wire mother
* Fear = go to cloth mother
* Even when cloth mother throws baby, blows air to blow away, spikes, etc. baby monkey continues to cling on and return to cloth mother
Their study with monkeys showed that the cloth mother provided comfort over the wire mother that provided food.
Understanding that contact is more important than feeding in attachment had what impact?
Helps us to understand the impact of:
1. Orphanages
2. Abusive relationship - Children fed but no physical comfort.
3. Culturally – multiple breastfeeding
4. Skin on skin at birth – helps to regulate heart rate – stronger attachment
5. Old school - Nannies
According to Bowlby’s Ethological Theory, why is attachment considered biologically adaptive?
Attachment behaviors promote survival
The theory posits that attachment is an evolutionary mechanism that enhances the chances of survival.
What are the three stages of response observed in children during parent-child separation according to Robertson (1952)?
Hospital Observations
- Protest - cry, shout, distress
- Despair - quiet, withdrawn, stops play, loss of interest
- Detachment - child has given up, does not care when parent returns
Parents not allowed to stay with child, visiting hours are limited to 1-2 hours per week, under 3 years old have no parental contact
What is the security theory (Ainsworth)?
Attachment formed on the basis of:
* Sensitivity – how sensitive in responding to childs signal and needs
* Responsiveness
* Promotes exploratory behaviour – secure base to explore the world from
Sensitivity accounts for 23% of attachment outcome (De Wolff & van Ijzendoorn, 1997).
What are the four attachment types identified by Mary Ainsworth?
- Secure (65%): Parent – sensitive, encourages exploration; Child - Uses secure base, separation distress, comfort on reunion
- Avoidant (20%): Parent – unresponsiveness or over stimulates; child - Low separation distress, avoids mother on return
- Anxious/ Resistant (10%): Parent – Inconsistent; child - Clings, fear of strangers, ambivalent on mother’s return.
- Disorganised (5%): Parent – frightening, neglectful or abusive; child - Contradictory/ dissociated behaviour (eg. freezing, bizarre, abnormal movements).
Each type reflects different parenting styles and child responses in attachment.
What behaviours are noted during the ‘Strange Situation’?
A: Stranger anxiety
B: Separation distress
C: Exploration/ use of parent as secure base
D: Reunion behaviour
How does attachment impact child health and behavior according to the Bio-behavioural Model?
Family processes can buffer or exacerbate biological responses to stress
Insecure attachments are linked to negative health outcomes and behavioral issues.
Evidence for the bio-behavioural model
Wood et al. (2002): Parental loyalty conflict (during divorce) associated with greater stress response and worsening of asthmatic symptoms.
Minde (1999). Greater parenting sensitivity led to improvements in health of seriously ill children.
What impacts does attachment have on a child’s health and behaviour?
- Depression - children more vulnerable
- Anxiety (Colonessi et al., 2011) meta analysis - due to inconsistent parenting
- Cognitive development (Frankel & Bates, 1990) - Insecure = shorter attention span and less good at problem solving, Secure = better problem solver (work better in teams, more confident asking help)
- Peer relationships (Nickerson et al., 2008) Attachment related to friendship quality, intimacy with friends, pro- social behaviour, less conflict with peers - (Secure = more ‘popular’ and sensitive to other children)
Insecure - increased risk of being victim or bully, Secure - more likely to defend victims
What is the Internal Working Model in relation to attachment?
(Main et al., 1985)
It shapes expectations about future relationships and self-representation based on early attachment experiences
It influences how individuals perceive themselves and others in relationships.
What are the classifications of adult attachment according to the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)?
- Secure: Autonomous
- Avoidant: Dismissing
- Ambivalent: Preoccupied
- Disorganized: Unresolved
These classifications are based on how adults talk about their early attachment experiences.
Adult attachment Classification: Bartholemew (1990)
- Secure – low anxiety, low avoidance
- Preoccupied – high anxiety, low avoidance
- Fearful-avoidant – high anxiety, high avoidance
- Dismissing-avoidant - low anxiety, high avoidance
What are the 2 dimensions of attachment?
(Brennan et al., 1998)
Anxiety – self-worth and likelihood of being rejected
* High anxiety = feel they will be rejected, low self-worth
* Low anxiety = secure with people
Avoidance – how much can they open up, be intimate and let people in
Large meta-analyses of all known attachment measures conclude there are 2 dimensions to attachment
Describe the characteristics of a Secure adult attachment.
Low anxiety, low avoidance; comfortable with closeness and dependency
Secure adults expect positive responses from others.
What is the impact of insecure attachment on adult relationships?
Linked to more problematic relationships
Insecure attachment styles can lead to difficulties in forming stable relationships.
Impact of Attachment on Parenting
(Fonagy et al., 1991)
* Pregnant mothers complete adult attachment interview - child when born performed strange situation
* Attachment style linked - Intergenerational
* Mothers’ own attachment predicts child attachment (secure vs insecure 75% of the time).
Impact of attachment on romantic relationships
- Avoidant: Discomfort with closeness, strong independence, more distant in relationships, more likely to cheat.
- Anxious / Ambivalent: Report more extreme need for closeness, fear of rejection, and greater jealousy in relationships, more likely to try to restore relationship with partner or put up with maltreatment.
- Securely attached more likely to select securely attached mates and vice versa (Collins et al., 2002).
- Two insecure partners = more chance of negative marital outcomes (Dyrenforth et al., 2010).
(Overall & Sibley, 2008)
Impact of attachment on friendships
(Crisp, Farrow et al., 2009)
* Secure more likely to seek social support from family and friends in times of need, also more likely to seek support from groups.
* Secure more likely to seek support from friendship groups when stressed by a relationship threat.
Critiques of attachment theory
Underplays the role of genes and child temperament
* Donnellan et al (2008); twin studies - approximately 45% of the variation in anxious, and 39% of the variance in avoidant attachment styles can be explained by genetic causes
