Infant Attachment Flashcards
The secure base phenomenon
• Start to split off at a young age
◦ Emotional needs
‣ They need to feel safe, secure, loved, and cared about.
◦ Cognitive needs
‣ The desire to learn, to understand, and to know that sometimes you ahve to break out of your shell to do this.
• A child starts to use this phenomenon around 6-9 months
◦ Happily playing and doing their own thing, but when the person with them or their mom leaves the room they start losing it.
‣ Really hard when you are having a crisis and need someone like your mom and they aren’t there. In 12 month olds we expect to see that they want their people in the room, but not stopping or interrupting what they are doing.
Mary Ainsworth - the strange situation
• Bring the caregiver and child into a place they have never been in before, then have the parent start playing. What will ideally happen (6months - 2 years), we will start seeing the following
‣ Fear of strangers
• Will be more extreme in some people that others, some may just slightly be more reserved in the beginning
‣ Separation anxiety
• Then we will see separation anxiety, this will happen that the baby needs to be able to see the caregiver and freaks out when they leave. If the child gets too upset we stop the scenario.
‣ Reunion behaviors
Anxious avoidant (A) babies (B1)
• May avoid the mom to begin with, but seem to be ok. They seem independent and more mature. Typically want to be put down when picked up, because they want to play. Are not playing with joy, but just doing it.
◦
◦ Insecure attachment
Description, short and long term effects, and the cause of A-B1 babies
‣ Description
• Are more anxious and tend to think that people will not be able to be helpful or proficient at anything.
‣ Short-term effects
◦ Focuses on the cognitive part of the environment and almost starts to turn off their emotional needs. the I won’t get what I want from them so I am not even going to try, and I will focus on something else.
◦ Once they get to school they tend to not go to the teacher for help, and just want to do their own thing. May not have too many friends, and won;t have an attachment.
‣ Long-term effects
◦ May struggle with commitment, especially with relationships
◦ May tend to use people, not because they need help but because they think they will benefit from playing games and doing things with them.
◦ Will ignore the emotional components of existence
‣ Cause
• One scenario is if a caregiver is not taking care of or not meeting the child’s needs. This results in the child looking to get and satisfy emotional needs elsewhere.
Secure babies (B2-B3)
- description, long and short term effects, cause
◦ Description
‣ Have both their cognitive and emotional needs met, and find ways to get both. Some may appear to be like the anxious avoidant, and care more about toys and less about parents leaving or strangers coming in.
• In this case when a parent comes back they will like it, and enjoy that their mom is back. Unlike the other scenario where the babies don’t want to be held.
◦ Short-term effects
‣ Around daycare and preschool age will be ok, and will generally do well at making friends. Some will be more shy than others
• Tend to do well academically
◦ Long-term effects
‣ They tend to do well academically because their whole sense of worth isn’t attached to their grades, and they are willing to go talk to teachers.
‣ Find it easier to go into relationships and stay in them. Tend to be more likely to go into relationships with a positive attitude, but may be more likely to get out of a bad or toxic relationship.
◦ Cause
‣ Comes from having a parent who understands a child’s cues and is willing to follow up on that. Not necessarily a perfect parent, but a supportive one who listens and pays attention.
B4 babies
◦ Not sure about the place they are taken too
◦ Not place about any strangers
◦ Not sure about parents leaving
◦ Love it when parent comes back, they may have that smile or whimper, maybe even release of snot, and eventually some comfort. This shows that they are comfortable with the caretaker.
Example of A and C responses
A - I just broke up with my boyfriend so I will focus on all of my classes and put time all into that.
C- not caring about it at all
Anxious resistant/ambivalent (C) babies description
◦ Often have insecure attachment, will look a lot like the B4 babies
• May be miserable and crying before the parent even leaves, then hysterical when hey do leave. However, when the parent comes back the crying increase, the back gets arched, the babies tend to flail their limbs about.
Anxious resistant/ambivalent (C) babies
Description, short-term effects, long-term effects, and cause
‣ Description
• Instead of being glad their parent is back, they become mad that the parent left, and wasn’t there. However, they also want the parent to come back.
‣ Short-term effects
• Super clingy and needy, is almost jealous for attention and that they are not getting what they want. When they don’t get what they want they get clingier and more needy.
‣ Long-term effects
• In long-term relationships they tend to still be very clingy, and need validation or reassurance from their partner.
◦ More likely to want a lot of time with the partner which causes the partner to try to draw away. This then creates more issues with how clingy they are being.
‣ Cause
• Goes back to the parenting style that they had. The emotional needs are not being met, so they block out all things and then all they want is to satisfy their emotional needs. Sometimes the parent may be loving and kind, but other times the parent may be mean and sharp.
Anxious disorganized (D) babies - insecure
◦ Dante Chichetti
‣ Description
• A baby who is insecure. It is hard to even put them into a category because none of their needs are being met, and sometimes their behaviors are very erratic.
‣ Will look fearful and glassy - eyed like they constantly look for danger and don’t response typically how they should.
◦ A workable strategy would be sticking with the parent until something good happens.
‣ Short-term effects
• Kid who struggles in school, doesn’t follow directions, doesn’t do or turn in work. Don’t often see them on college campuses because they were being abused, or drop out.
‣ Long-term effects
• Most will not go on to college and won’t be able to do later stages.
‣ Cause
• When a parent is so neglectful that no needs are met, and they physically and mentally struggle.
Temperament with the stage of infant attachment
Easier temperament for Anxious avoidant
More difficult temperament for anxious resistant
Belsky and Isabella
◦ Easy temperament
‣ With sensitive parenting
• With make sure the child is secure
‣ With insensitive parenting
◦ Difficulty temperament
‣ With sensitive parenting
• Parent will still make sure the child is secure, but also knows it will take more work
‣ With insensitive parenting
• More likely to have a difficult temp are to because the parent is less helpful, and is less able to provide for the child.
