Influence of early attachment on later relationships

Question 1

What did Bowlby say is important in early attachment that could affect later relationships?

Answer 1

• Internal working model

Question 2

What is the internal working model?

Answer 2

• Our mental representations of our relationships with PAF, which acts as a template for future relationships

Question 3

What did Kerns say attachment type is associated with?

Answer 3

Quality of peer relationships in childhood

Question 4

What do securely attached babies go on to form in childhood?

Answer 4

Best quality childhood friendships ( Kerns)

Question 5

What do insecure- resistant babies struggle with in childhood?

Answer 5

difficulties in friendship (Kerns)

Question 6

What did Wilson and Peter smith assess?

Answer 6

Attachment type and bullying involvement

Question 7

How did Wilson and Peter Smith assess attachment type and bullying?

Answer 7

• Used standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London

Question 8

What did Wilson and Peter Smith find about secure children?

Answer 8

Very unlikely to be involved in bullying

Question 9

What did Wilson and Smith find about insecure-avoidant children?

Answer 9

more likely to be the victims of bullying

Question 10

What did Wilson and Smith find about insecure-resistant children?

Answer 10

They were more likely to be the bullies

Question 11

What two major experiences do the IWM affect?

Answer 11

• Romantic relationships
• parental relationships with own children

Question 12

Who did McCarthy (1999) study?

Answer 12

40 adult women

Question 13

When did McCarthy assess the 40 adult women and why?

Answer 13

assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type

Question 14

What did McCarthy find about those assessed as securely attached babies?

Answer 14

Best adult friendships and romantic relationships

Question 15

What did McCarthy find about those assessed as insecure-resistant babies?

Answer 15

They had problems maintaining friendships

Question 16

What did McCarthy find about those assessed as insecure-avoidant babies?

Answer 16

Struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships

Question 17

What study showed the affect of IWM on childs ability to parent own children?

Answer 17

Bailey et al assessed attachment of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers - using the stange situation and adult attachment interview

Question 18

What did research is there to support influence of early attachment on later relationships ?

Answer 18

Fearon and Roisman
- early attachment consistently predicts later relationships
- secure attachments- advantages for future development
- Insercure-avoidant- fairly mild disadvantages in development
- Disorganized - associated with later mental disorder

Question 19

What is the counterpoint for research supporting influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Answer 19

• Becker-stoll et al
• Longitudinal study, followed 43 participants from 1
• At age 16 she assessed attachment
• found no evidence of continuity

Question 20

What is the limitation that research into the influence of early attachment is assessed retrospectively?

Answer 20

• Research not longitudinal, ask about relationships
• Causes two validity problems
  1) questions relies on the honesty & accurate perception of the participants
  2) hard to know if assessing early attachment or in fact adult attachment
• measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded by other factors

Question 21

What is another limitation of research into the influence of early attachment on later development to do with variables?

Answer 21

• associations between early attachment & later development are affected by CV’s
• e.g. Parenting style or genetically influenced personality may be an influence on attachment quality and later development
• not enitrely sure that it is early attachment