Attachment Flashcards
(49 cards)
Why do infants develop attachments?
- Harlow found that monkeys preferred the soft mother even though she had no food
-Emotional needs are crucial for primate survival
What was Bowlby’s theory of attachment?
He argued that infants have an innate primary drive to form attachments - biologically programmed
What did Ainsworth develop?
The Strange Situation - 8 stages of mother, infant and stranger interactions
What are the key infant behaviours in attachment classification?
- Proximity Seeking
- Contact Maintenance
- Resistance
- Avoidance
What did Ainsworth (1978) identify as the 3 types of attachment?
- Secure
- Insecure-avoidant
- Insecure-resistant-ambivalent
(Disorganised - added later)
What are common traits of securely attached infants?
- Interact with an unfamiliar adult
- Able to separate from caregiver
- Seek proximity to caregiver
- Greet caregiver with positve effect
- Able to return to play
What % of infants are securely attached?
56-80%
What common traits do insecure-avoidant infants show?
- Avoid proximity and eye contact upon reunion
- Explore room independently
- Show little or no preference between caregiver and stranger
- Ignore parents
What % of infants are insecure-avoidant?
16-28%
What common traits do insecure resistant-ambivalent show?
- Are preoccupied with caregiver
- Are highly distressed upon separation
- Upon reunion, resist attempts at closeness
- Not easily soothed
What % of infants are insecure resistant-ambivalent?
6-12%
What common traits do insecure-disorganised infants show?
- Behave in an inconsistent or odd manner
- Wander around or are fearful in presence of caregiver
- May approach caregiver backwards or freeze
- Do not show a consistent strategy for dealing with caregiver
What’s the main cause for insecure disorganised attachment?
Maltreating families
What are the main attachment types in adults?
- Autonomous (secure)
- Dismissing (avoidant)
- Preoccupied (resistant)
- Unresolved (disorganised)
What are the measures of attachment for older children?
- Interviews
- The Q sort - The caregiver is asked to sort into categories a number of cards that contain phrases with the child’s characteristics
- The Manchester Child Attachment Story Task - a child enacts different scenarios using a dolls house/dolls
What is the measure of attachment for adults?
Adult attachment interview - semi-structured interview
What are genetic influences of attachment?
- Possible influence of allelic variants of serotonin-transporter gene (SLC6A4, formally 5HTT)
- Gene DRD4, involved in the dopamine system, possibly associated with disorganised attachment
Example study of caregiver sensitivity and attachment
- Meta-analysis of 21 studies
- Over 1000 mother-child pairs
- Moderate link was found between sensitivity and attachment (r=0.24)
How are parenting and insecure attachment linked?
- Secure - caregivers are sensitive to child’s needs
- Avoidant - caregivers distant, irritable and angry
- Resistant - caregiver unpredictable
- Disorganised - cargiver gives confusing clues. displays strange and frightening behaviours
What was found across cultures relating to the SS?
Similar behaviours
Where were children least likely to stay in close proximity to their mothers?
Colombia and Peru
Where were children more likely to stay in proximity to their mothers?
Italy and Portugal
What study did Hobson (2005) conduct?
- 10 infants of others with borderline personality disorder (+ 22 infants of normal mothers)
- Mother-infant interactions in 3 settings
- Infants of BPD mothers were more likely to have disorganised attachments - more insensitive and intrusive
What were the results of a study based on 146 infants adopted before 6 months? (Stams et al, 2002)
Significant associations between secure attachments and positive social outcomes as well as disorganised and poorer social/cognitive outcomes
