Families and Attachment : Infancy

Question 1

Explain attachment in terms of a child in a park

Answer 1

• Infant is exploring the environment,
• They are using the mother as a secure base to which to return to periodically for reassurance.
• This is one of the hallmarks of an ‘attachment relationship’

Question 2

Who first described the development of attachment in detail?

Answer 2

John Bowlby (1969

Question 3

Bowlby’s 4 phases of attachment:

Answer 3

1. Infant orientates and signals to any adults (like in last lecture)
2. Infant preferentially orientates and signals to a few specific people; at about 5-7 mths
3. Infant maintains close proximity to the few specific people; starts at 7 -9 mths
4. Goal-corrected partnership between child and specific adults

Question 4

What is The Internal Working Model (Bowlby 1969)

Answer 4

Attachment is maintained through abstract constructs

• Even when specific people are not actually there
• the child has an internal working model of the relationship that they carry with them
• Built from their experiences of trust, affection
• relevant at school-age and older.

Question 5

(Svanberg, Attachment in Practice DVD, 2005)

Answer 5

“Attachment is a bond which ties .. the mother and baby together. It emerges out of evolution. It developed in order to protect us from predators, it is central to our survival and what we are beginning to realise now is that it’s also central to our well-being”

Question 6

what is the Development of attachment?

Answer 6

• An evolutionary instinct to seek protection from a caregiver in the face of danger
• A fundamental biologically based motivation
• The instinctive actions of the infant (seen in last lecture) are essential for the attachment process to begin

Question 7

What is the interactive system or dance? Dallos 2006

Answer 7

Child experiences threat- eg stranger
child cries or seeks proximity to parent
parent responds by picking up, reassuring, feeding
Child feels safe and returns to exploration and play

Question 8

Explain attunement

Answer 8

The dance
• Sensitive, responsive parents have this skill
• The ability to put yourself into the baby’s mind and work out: “What is he thinking? What is he saying?”
• ‘calm me down, comfort me’
• ‘play with me… I want you to imitate me’ -
• Children need this sensitivity and attunement to develop their own capacity for empathy

Question 9

What is the impact of poor attunement?

Answer 9

I am upset
Parent ignores or shouts- non attuned parent
They judge or criticise my behaviour- adult has negative attributions, behaviour not seen as communication
They don’t understand how I feel- adult lacks empathy
I feel ashamed and alone- lack of emotional regulation
I don’t understand why I feel so bad, I get out of control- dysregulation
its all my fault, I’m bad, no one loves me- low self esteem

Question 10

Why does the infant need to be attached?

Answer 10

so they can ‘use’ the caregiver as a secure base
• This enables them to explore the world and be comforted after stressful experiences
• This way they learn exploration and mild stress is ok and they learn to tolerate it more and more alone

Question 11

Who Studied how well the infant used the caregiver as a secure base? Strange situation

Answer 11

Mary Ainsworth 1913-1999

Question 12

What is the strange situation?

Answer 12

Observation through one-way screen and video-taped
• Mother and baby settle, interact, play
• Stranger enters room, minimal contact with mother & baby
• Mother leaves for 3 mins
• Mother returns and attempts re-engage in play
• Mother again leaves for 6 mins
• Mother return and stranger leaves
• Mother attempts to re-engage in play

Question 13

What did the strange situation show?

Answer 13

• Infants exhibited one of three main patterns:
• Secure
• Avoidant
• Anxious/preoccupied (clingy)/ ambivalent
• Disorganised (was added later by Main, 1985)
• Mothers differed in how they attuned to needs of the infant when they returned
• Infants differed in how they responded to the mother returning

Question 14

How is secure attachment shown in the strange situation?

Answer 14

• Infant calms quickly when parent returns
• Establishes eye contact
• Shows positive feelings.
• Indications from parent that child is special and safe.
• Returns to play and exploration

Question 15

What are the 3 types of Insecure Attachment

Answer 15

• Avoidant
• Ambivalent/Anxious
• Disorganised

Question 16

How is avoidant attachment shown in the strange situation?

Answer 16

• Infant uninterested when parent returns
• No indication of missing parent
• Little attempt to make contact with parent physically or verbally
• Acts more like a parent than a child

Question 17

How is the ambivalent attachment shown in the strange situation?

Answer 17

• Infant showed contradictory behaviour
• Shifted from:
• being dependent, seeking comfort, crying
• showing anger, resistance

Question 18

How is the disorganised attachment shown in the strange situation?

Answer 18

Disorganised- 2 or 3%. Those with addictive or young parents are more likely to be disorganised
Infant showed unusual, disconnected actions
• Freezing, incomplete movement towards parent
• Confused
• Dazed expression
• May relate to extreme early experiences e.g. abuse, danger, punishment if they express fear or distress (Crittenden, 1997)