ATTACHMENT 1 Flashcards
What is Bowlby’s Attachment Theory?
Children are biologically predisposed to develop an attachment bond to caregivers as a means of increasing chances of their survival
Made to understand why orphans from World war were still in distress (despite having all physical needs met)
According to Bowlby’s Attachment Theory, Attachment experiences form the basis of…
personality,
emotion regulation,
self- esteem
What are the main four features of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory?
- Proximity seeking and maintenance
- Separation distress
- Safe haven
- Secure base
Is Bowlby’s Attachment system activated at all times?
No
It is activated in response to separation from a care giver (or perception of threat: ex. child gets hurt)
(get separation distress)
(try find care giver) proximity seeking
(if care giver comes back, they will sooth) Safe haven
(if child feels safe /secure, adult is a safe space when they go and adventure)
(use picture / diagram)
According to Bowlby’s Attachment theory, what do children’s attachments depend on?
Development and quality of child’s attachments are highly dependent on their experiences with caregivers
What is “The Strange Situation” study on attachment styles?
- Paradigm designed to systematically assess children’s attachment to a specific caregiver (the first!)
- Caregiver and child play in a room together
Examines how children react to:
* Separations from caregiver
* Reunions with caregiver
* Meeting a strange
Attachment Styles in the Strange Situation
What is Secure?
60%; Child distressed when parent left, but able to be soothed by stranger and seeks comfort upon reunion with parent; explores the room when parent is present
Attachment Styles in the Strange Situation
What is Avoidant?
15%; Child does not display signs of distress upon separation
from parent, plays by themselves, and disinterested in parent upon reunion
(very unusual if 12 month old if chilling when no parent)
Attachment Styles in the Strange Situation
What is Anxious/ambivalent?
(also called resistant)
10%; Child extremely distressed upon separation, not soothed by stranger, but takes a long time to be soothed upon reunion with parent/resists parent’s attempt to soothe; stays close to parent when parent is in the room and doesn’t explore much
Attachment Styles in the Strange Situation
What is Disorganized?
15%; Behaviour is contradictory. Seems to want to approach parent but also sees them as a source of fear. Frequently appear dazed and dissociated
Why might these kids behave so differently?
Way their parents behave
How do parents of Securely Attached Children act?
What does the child learn?
Parents’ behaviour:
* Generally supportive/sensitive to child’s needs
* Affectionate and expresses frequent positive emotions towards child
* Fosters autonomy and exploration
Child learns that:
* Proximity seeking is a good strategy to soothe distress / to have needs met
How do parents of Avoidantly Attached Children act?
What does the child learn?
Parent’s behaviour:
* CONSISTENTLY insensitive to the child’s signals
* Avoids close contact or rejects child’s bids for contact
* May be angry or impatient
* Discourages displays of emotion
OR parent is consistently over-bearing and intrusive
Child learns that:
* Proximity seeking is not a good strategy to soothe distress / to have needs met
- Consistently not meeting needs!!!
How do Avoidantly Attached Children react when faced with caregiver is unavailable and proximity is not a viable option?
(when they have learned proximity seeking is not a good strategy to soothe distress / to have needs met)
Deactivation of attachment system
- Attention diverted away from threat
- Avoid proximity of caregiver when distressed
- Cope with distress by suppressing it or avoiding situations that elicit distress
Avoidantly Attached Children look like they aren’t upset no matter the situation
When hooked up to physiological tests, are Avoidantly Attached Children actually not stressed?
In just as much distress as securely attached children
(higher heart rate, sweat, cortisol)
How do parents of Anxiously Attached Children act?
What does the child learn?
Parents’ behaviour:
* INCONSISTENT in reacting to child’s distress, sometimes soothing and attentive
and other times insensitive
Child learns that:
* Proximity is sometimes a good strategy to soothe distress, but not always
How do Anxiously Attached Children react when faced with caregiver is unavailable and proximity might be a viable option?
(When they have learned Proximity is sometimes a good strategy to soothe distress but not always)
Hyperactivation of attachment system
* Hypervigilance to threat and exaggerated perceptions of threat
* Excessive proximity-seeking of caregiver when distressed
* Cope with distress by heightening it (distress response) ( EX: being more clingy, throw a tantrum)
How do parents of disorganized Attached Children act?
What does the child learn?
Parents’ behaviour:
* Frightens the child
* May be harsh or abusive
* Often struggle with severe mental health issues
Child learns that:
* Proximity seeking often results in feeling scared
* Caregiver is extremely unpredictable and cannot be trusted
(draw to you, but also pushed away - can’t resolve this emotional conflict)
Sarah is a young child whose primary caregiver is often inconsistent in responding to her emotional needs.
Sometimes her caregiver is nurturing, but other times they are dismissive. Based on this caregiving history, which attachment style is Sarah most likely to develop?
a. Secure
b. Anxious
c. Avoidant
d. Disorganized
Anxious
Other Factors Influencing Attachment
- Infant’s temperament
Biological basis for personality
Infant’s vary in sensitivity and how easy they are to soothe
* Infant’s that are more sensitive are more likely to develop anxious attachment
* Those that are less sensitive are more likely to develop secure or avoidant
attachment
Other Factors Influencing Attachment
- Socialization of gender role
Males are more likely to develop avoidant (vs. anxious) attachment (men told not to express emotions)
- Females more likely to develop anxious (vs. avoidant) attachment
Other Factors Influencing Attachment
- Safety vs. danger of environment
More likely to develop an insecure attachment when growing up in more dangerous environment
Is attachment relevant in adulthood?
Attachment relationships have similar functions in adulthood as they
do in childhood
* Proximity seeking/maintenance, separation distress, safe haven, secure base
When do we most see attachment in adulthood?
Romantic partners are most common attachment figures in adults
- Best friends too
Is adult attachment style independent from childhood attachment style?
Adult attachment style is related to childhood experiences due to
internal working models
What are internal working models?
Mental representations of the self, of attachment figures, and of
relationships in general that are constructed as a result of experiences
with caregivers
- Filter through which interactions with attachment figures are interpreted throughout life
- Guide expectations about relationships throughout life
What does she mean by dimension?
Continuum
Why do we say internal working models operate along two dimensions
(what are the two dimensions?)
- Anxiety Dimension
* Vigilance and concerns about rejection
and abandonment
* To what extent is the self worthy of love?
* Low anxiety = self is worthy of love - Avoidance Dimension
* Discomfort with closeness and
intimacy
* To what extent are others reliable?
* Low avoidance = others are reliabe
Broadly what are anxiety and avoidance dimensions about?
Anxiety = Self worth
Avoidance = What do I believe about others
For looking at adult attachment (study an image along the continuum)
What are secure adults like?
Comfortable with closeness and
interdependence, but also seeks
autonomy
ex. Cam and Mitchel from modern family
What are Anxious adults like?
Fear of rejection and abandonment because believes self is “not good enough”
Leads to a heightened need for reassurance and becoming overly controlling/cling
ex. Ross from friends
What are Dismissive-avoidant adults like?
Avoid seeking closeness to protect self from being let down
by others
Often emotionally distant, prioritize independence, and find it difficult to trust/rely on other
When do we see these attachment dynamics?
Situations of threat
Study on: Does attachment style influence support- seeking behaviour in couples?
83 heterosexual couples
* Woman told she will have to complete “an
anxiety provoking activity”
- Dark windowless room with electrical equipment (her imagination is running wild)
* Women’s behaviour towards her partner coded for anxiety and support-seeking
How much support seeking does she do?
FOUND:
For secure women = more anxious, is more they sought comfort and support
For avoidant women = more anxious, is less they sought comfort and support
What are the Fearful-avoidant/ Disorganized adults like?
Strong need for closeness but distrusts others and sees self as deserving of rejection.
(fear abandonment BUT really mistrust others)
- Leads to inconsistent way of meeting attachment need
What is the difference between Dismissive and Fearful Avoidance?
- Dismissive-avoidants deactivate both overt attachment behaviours AND covert (internal) attachment system
* (reduced physiological response - disabled it at unconscious level)
* Reduced physiological response when imagining separation from partner - Fearful avoidants only deactivate overt attachment behaviours, BUT are unable to deactivate covert attachment system
* Elevated physiological response when imagining separation from partner
A person with an avoidant (dismissive) attachment
style is likely to react to relationship
conflicts by…
a. seeking closeness / reassurance from partner but still feeling dissatisfied
b. becoming distant or withdrawing emotionally from partner to maintain sense of independence
c. Becoming preoccupied with their partners behaviour and excessively seeking validation
d. Yelling at partner
b. becoming distant or withdrawing emotionally from partner to maintain sense of independence
According to attachment theory,
internal working models are…
a. Patterns of attachment behaviour that influences how people respond to new attachment figures
b. Early memories that children develop about their caregivers behaviour
c. The mental representations of self and others that guide future relationships
d. The immediate emotional responses a person has to an attachment figures distress
c. The mental representations of self and others that guide future relationships
What are the Adult Attachment Style Distributions? (what % of adults are in each)
- 56% secure (vs. 60% in kids)
- 25% avoidant (vs. 15% in kids)
- 19% anxious (vs. 10% in kids)
A lot like in kids
How is attachment categorized?
Researchers tend to no longer categorize people into attachment
styles (categorical approach)
Attachment is measured using a continuous approach
What is a continuous way of measuring attachment?
Self report questionnaire
- Degree of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance measures separately
Anxiety:
* “I often worry that my partner doesn’t really love me.”
* “My desire to be very close sometimes scares people away.”
Avoidance:
* “I prefer not to show a partner how I feel deep down.”
* “I find it difficult to allow myself to depend on romantic partners”
What are Outcomes of Secure vs. Insecure Attachment?
(what do secure ppl feel compared to insecure?)
Secure attachment (low anxiety and low avoidance) associated with:
* Higher self-esteem
* Greater tendency to seek out social support
* Better conflict-resolution skills
* Higher life satisfaction
* Better relationship satisfaction
Study: How does attachment style influence partner selection (who we choose) and relationship stability?
354 heterosexual couples followed for 3 years
Time 1 Results:
* No anxious-anxious or avoidant-avoidant pairs
* Relationship satisfaction lower in relationships with at least one insecurely
attached partner
* Lowest relationship satisfaction in anxious-avoidant couple
Why is the anxious-avoidant couple so low in relationship satisfaction?
Chronic relationship dissatisfaction (relationship needs at odds)
Anxious partner wants more closeness than avoidant is willing to provide
* Ends up feeling not good enough and “too much”
Avoidant partner wants more independence than anxious partner is willing to accept
* Ends up feeling trapped and suffocate
Attachment and Partner Selection
At follow-up study 3 years later
What did they find?
Avoidant-anxious pairs were most likely to still be together
- Strange given relationship satisfaction results from Time 1
Explain the Stability of the Anxious-Avoidant Pair?
Familiarity & Complimentary dynamic
Familiarity:
* Each partner’s attachment pattern is consistent with internal working model
- For anxiously attached partner, avoidant’s distance mirrors their experience of
inconsistent caregiving, triggering their pursuit of closeness (ended up with person not consistently meeting needs) - For the avoidant partner, anxious partner’s pursuit of closeness mirrors their
experiences of attachment figures being intrusive or not meeting their needs
(e.g. for autonomy), triggering their instinct to retreat and protect independence
Complimentary dynamic:
* Anxious partner’s pursuit of closeness feeds into the avoidant’s tendency to
withdraw, creating a maladaptive cycle
