Attachment

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

Pattern of behaviour where a child will seek out their caregiver to provide and it is an innate biological urge.

Question 2

How is attachment developed?

Answer 2

Through the parent-child interactions, when the child feels stressed, ill or want their basic needs fulfilled. As infant becomes child, child focus on how they view themselves and their emotional attachments to their caregiver. In adulthood, attachment is a state of mind.

Question 3

What are the attachment classifications?

Answer 3

Organised and disorganised. Organised is split into secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure resistant.

Question 4

What is insecure resistant?

Answer 4

Caregiver has inconsistent response to the infant’s distress. Infant both seeks but rejects comofrt, is angry when caregiver returns and cries, difficult to soothe and is not comforted by caregiver and clingy in new environments.

Question 5

What is insecure avoidant?

Answer 5

Caregiver rejects or ignores the infant’s distress. Infant is independent physically and emotionally, rarely cries, no difference in comfort between caregiver and stranger and lacks confidence in caregiver availability.

Question 6

What is secure attachment?

Answer 6

Infant can self-compose when distressed but seeks out the caregiver, easily soothed and caregiver is sensitive to child’s cues and signals and responds appropriately.

Question 7

What is disorganised attachment?

Answer 7

An infant has odd and contradictory behaviour with freezing but slow and intentional movement. They can’t find comfort when distressed and may seek comfort but fearful and dysregulated in presence of caregiver.

Question 8

How is attachment measured?

Answer 8

1-2 years: Stranger situation procedure
4-7 years: Story stem procedure where you give them part of a story ith a dilemma and askt he child to finish the story
7-15 years: Child attachment interview
15+ years: Adult attachment interview

Question 9

What are the consequences of secure attachment?

Answer 9

Promotes healthy child development, trust in adulthood, more resilient and competent.

Question 10

What are the consequences of insecure attachment?

Answer 10

Difficulty getting along with others, building confidence or trust in others

Question 11

What is the evidence for attachment-based interventions?

Answer 11

NICE reccomendations:
Video Interaction Guidance- focused on positivie interactions between parent-child in their home over 3-4 months to enhance communication and social wellbeing
Parental sensitivity and behaviour training- focused on increasing the parent’s understanding and management of the child’s behaviour over a 6 month period with a parent-only session 1st then a parent-child session
Parent-child psychosocial therapy- focused on imporving the parent-child relationship, particulaerly with maltreatment risks, conducted over a year. Explores parent’s own childhood experiences and perceptions and emotional reactions to child, conducted in the home.
Home visiting programmes- improve parent child chommunication and relationship through positive modelling and reinforcing positivie interaction, conducted in the home