Attachment & the Family Environment

Question 1

Romanian Adoption Study

Answer 1

See notes

Question 2

Behaviourism & Parent-Child Bond

Answer 2

Parent-child bond simply result of classical conditioning
Food is basis of parent to child bond
Eliminates complexities of caregiver relationship
Rules out other caregivers (e.g. parents who don’t breast feed)

Question 3

Harry harlow Study

Answer 3

See notes

Question 4

Attachment Theory

Answer 4

Children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments
Caregiver provides a secure base from which children can explore the world
Innate evolutionary basis combined with experiences with caregiver

Question 5

Competence Motivated Infant

Answer 5

Caregiver as a secure base
Presence of caregiver provides sense of security that provides with sense of security that allows to explore environment and become knowledgeable
Caregiver serves as haven of safety during threat or insecurity
Derive comfort and pleasure from being near caregiver
Infants develop attachment to caregiver

Question 6

Internal Working Model of Attachment

Answer 6

Mental representation of the self, of attachment figures, and of relationships in general
Based on perception of extent to which caregivers can be depended on to satisfy needs/provide security
Guides expectations of relationships throughout life

Question 7

Strange Situation

Answer 7

See notes

Question 8

Secure Attachment

Answer 8

50-60%
Use mother as a secure base during initial part of session
Leave side to explore toys available
Occasionally look back to check on mother or show a toy
Usually distressed to some degree when mother leaves, especially when totally alone
Glad to see mother when she returns

Question 9

Insecure/Resistant

Answer 9

9%
Clingy in beginning, don’t explore toys
Get very upset when mother leaves
When mom returns reestablish contact with mother but rebuff her efforts at comforting

Question 10

Insecure/Avoidant

Answer 10

15%
Avoid mother, pay little attention
Fail to greet her during reunions and ignore her while she is in room
Don’t care when caregiver leaves or returns

Question 11

Disorganized/Disoriented

Answer 11

15%
No consistent pattern of emotion/behaviour
Confused/mixed emotions (e.g. fearful smile)
Dazed or disoriented, may freeze behaviour
Want to approach caregiver but also regard her as source of fear to withdraw from
Higher among maltreated infants, parents with their own difficulties in modes of attachment, preschoolers from low socioeconomic backgrounds

Question 12

Strange Situation Criticism

Answer 12

Requires substantial resources
Attachment should be measured along multiple continuous dimensions
Situation is no longer so strange
Attachment is only one factor

Question 13

Parental Sensitivity

Answer 13

Caregiving behavior involving expression of warmth and contingent and consistent responsiveness to child needs
Strong predictor of secure attachment

Question 14

Parents of Insecure/Resistant

Answer 14

Inconsistent, anxious, overwhelmed by caregiving in early caregiving
Sometimes respond promptly to distress, sometimes don’t

Question 15

Parents of Insecure/Avoidant

Answer 15

Unresponsive, indifferent, emotionally unavailable
May reject attempts at closeness

Question 16

Parents of Disorganized/Disoriented

Answer 16

Sometimes exhibit abusive, frightening, or disoriented behaviour
Unpredictable behaviour for the infant
Caregiver may struggle with trauma, abuse, high stress, or mental health issues

Question 17

Circle of Security

Answer 17

Parents reflect on representations of how parents and children should interact
Therapists to change maladaptive representations
20 weeks = developed more positive representations and number of disorganized children decreased

Question 18

Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch Up (ABC)

Answer 18

Change parent behaviours
Teach parents to produce nurturance, follow child lead, avoid frightening behaviours
Give feedback during child parent interactions
Effective at changing parenting behaviours and child security

Question 19

Family

Answer 19

Group that involves at least one adult related to the child by birth, marriage, adoption, or foster status and who is responsible for providing basic necessities as well as love, support, safety, stability, and opportunities for learning

Question 20

Family Structure

Answer 20

Number of and relationships amongst the people living in a household

Question 21

Simple Stepfamily

Answer 21

New stepparent joins another parent and their children

Question 22

Complex/Blended Stepfamily

Answer 22

Both new stepparent and stepsiblings

Question 23

Family Dynamics

Answer 23

How family members interact through various relationships (e.g. child to mom, child to dad, mom to dad, siblings together)

Question 24

Socialization

Answer 24

Process where children acquire values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviours regarded as appropriate for present/future roles in their culture

Question 25

Discipline

Answer 25

Set of strategies and behaviours parents use to teach children how to behave properly

Question 26

Internalization

Answer 26

Child learns and accepts reasons for a desired behaviour and permanently changes behaviour

Question 27

Other Oriented Induction

Answer 27

Reasoning focused on effects of behaviour on others
Effective at promoting internalization
Also teaches empathy for others
Most common form of discipline

Question 28

Punishment

Answer 28

Negative stimulus that follows a behaviour to reduce likelihood that behaviour will occur again
E.g. time out, taking away privileges
Do not teach child how to behave in the future

Question 29

Parenting Style

Answer 29

Constellation of parenting behaviours and attitudes that set emotional climate of parent-child interactions (2 main dimensions)
Degree of parental warmth and responsiveness
Degree of parenting control and demandingness

Question 30

Authoritative Parenting

Answer 30

Demanding but also warm and responsive (high warmth, high control)
See notes for more info

Question 31

Authoritarian Parenting

Answer 31

Cold, unresponsive to needs (low warmth, high control)
See notes for more info

Question 32

Permissive Parenting

Answer 32

Responsible to needs/wishes but overly lenient (high warmth, low control)
See notes for more info

Question 33

Uninvolved Parenting

Answer 33

Low in demandingness and responsiveness (disengaged) (low warmth, low control)
See notes for more info

Question 34

Coercive Cycles

Answer 34

Noncompliance evokes harsher parenting which leads to more externalizing of child problems

Question 35

Child Maltreatment

Answer 35

Action or failure to act by an adult that either results in physical or emotional harm to a child or puts child at risk of serious harm

Question 36

5 Types of Maltreatment

Answer 36

Neglect: failure of a caregiver to provide physical and psychological necessities of life to a child
Physical abuse: application of unreasonable force to a child
Emotional harm: patterns of behaviour in which caregiver demeans, rejects, repeatedly criticizes, or withholds love from child or otherwise communicates to a child that they are worthless, unloved, unwanted
Sexual abuse: sexual acts or sexual exploitation involving children (touching and exposure to sexual content)
Exposure to family violence: child being exposed to violence occurring between parent/caregiver and other family members

Question 37

Polyvictimization

Answer 37

Many abused children experience more than one form of maltreatment