Lecture 4: Attachment Flashcards
Attachment theory came from
John Bowlby
The nature of attachments with caregivers is the blueprint for future relationships.
Characteristics:
* Proximity Maintenance
* Safe Haven
* Secure Base
* Separation Distress
Mary Ainsworth:
Strange Situation Study
Attachment styles
* Secure attachment,
* Ambivalent attachment,
* Avoidant attachment
* Disorganized attachment.
Secure infant-caregiver attachment
- Seeks proximity and contact with caregiver when distressed
- Readily comforted by caregiver
*Balance between proximity to caregiver and exploration of environment
Avoidant Attachment
Avoidant (A)
- Little proximity seeking or interaction with caregiver when distressed
- Infant ignores and avoids caregiver upon reunion
Resistant Attachment
Seeks proximity and contact with caregiver when distressed but resists soothing
Infant is highly distressed and highly focused on caregiver
Infant cannot be settled by caregiver
Disorganized attachment
Absence of organized strategy for regulating distress within relationship with primary caregiver
Contradictory behavior, difficult to read
Appears fearful or confused in interactions with caregiver
Exhibits approach-avoidance conflict towards caregiver
Distress seems too intense to be managed
View of self/world and attatchmenht
Does childhood caregiver attachment dictate adult attachment style?
YES…
* Not a 1 to 1 relationship but adult attachment do act as developmental antecedents.
Those with insecure attachment styles at age 18 are more likely than secure peers to have had:
* Less supportive parents over time
* Familial instability (parental depression, absent father, divorce)
* Lower quality friendships in adolescence
Higher caregiving nurturance at age 3 was associated with larger declines in attachment avoidance from age 14 to age 23.
Quality of interactions at age 10 and 15 predicted security in the child’s 20’s.
Adult Attachment Styles: socialization and selection
= constellation of knowledge, expectations, and insecurities that people hold about themselves and their close relationships.
* These interpretations are believed to impact affect regulation and behavior and how they experience “close” relationships.
Interpretations arise from:
* Socialization = environment –> person (in earlier childhood, the environment is controlled by the caregiver)
* Selection = person –> environment (these in turn can be impacted by socialization and vice versa)
Socialization-Selection Asymmetries: Attachment as we get older
IWM
Secure attachment: neurobiology
Oxytocin: Elevated levels, promoting bonding, trust, and emotional regulation.
Dopamine: Balanced release, supporting reward sensitivity and healthy interpersonal connections.
Serotonin: Stable levels, contributing to emotional regulation and resilience to stress.
Norepinephrine: Moderate levels, ensuring appropriate arousal and response to stress without over-activation
Secure attachment: behavior
- Comfortable with intimacy and independence.
*Effective emotional regulation and social connectedness.
*Positive expectations of relationships and lower levels of interpersonal anxiety.
Avoidant/Dismissive: neurobiology
Oxytocin: Reduced levels, leading to discomfort with closeness and emotional suppression.
Dopamine: Attenuated (reduced) reward response to social bonding, decreasing motivation for deep relationships.
Serotonin:Can be moderately imbalanced, potentially contributing to emotional detachment.
Norepinephrine:Elevated in response to intimacy, reinforcing avoidance and self-reliance.
Avoidant/Dismissive: Behavior
Suppresses emotional needs, prioritizing independence.
Lower emotional expressivity and avoidance of deep connections.
Prefrontal cortex may overregulate limbic responses, dampening emotional intensity.
Anxious/Pre-Occupied: neurobiology
*Oxytocin: Dysregulated; craving bonding but with difficulty in trusting its stability.
*Dopamine: Hyperactive reward system; heightened sensitivity to perceived signs of rejection or approval.
*Serotonin: Lower levels, leading to increased emotional volatility and anxiety.
*Norepinephrine: Elevated, contributing to hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, and difficulty calming down after perceived threats to relationships.
Anxious/Pre-Occupied: behavior
- Fear of abandonment, heightened sensitivity to relational cues.
*Difficulty regulating emotions, leading to excessive reassurance-seeking.
*Increased amygdala activation, reinforcing anxious emotional responses.
Disorganized/Fearful: neurobiology
Oxytocin: Erratic regulation, causing fluctuations between seeking and fearing closeness.
Dopamine: Dysregulated, leading to inconsistent motivation for social connection.
Serotonin: Low levels, contributing to mood instability and increased stress responses.
Norepinephrine: Chronically elevated, driving hypervigilance, fear responses, and emotional dysregulation.
Disorganized/Fearful: Behavior
Oscillation between craving intimacy and fearing vulnerability.
History of trauma often linked to dysregulated stress responses.
Increased amygdala reactivity, leading to difficulty processing trust and safety.
Early Relational Trauma (ERT)
Relational trauma can be low level and chronic- “ambient” and “cumulative”
Can be various maternal behaviors, not usually thought of as “trauma” but dysregulate the infant’s homeostasis without repair, or unpredictable repair.
Not the same threshold across the board- some infants may be able to withstand higher instance of caregiver misattunement before becoming dysregulated
ERT interferes with the infant’s developing coping systems which are experience dependent
“Vulnerable Brain”
Commission vs omission trauma
Commission Trauma = physical, sexual abuse
Omission Trauma = neglect/absence
Neurobiological Impact of ERT in Adulthood & in PTSD
Hyperactivation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
*Chronic Cortisol Elevation (impact on oxytocin)
*Hypersensitive Amygdala
*Shrinkage of Hippocampus & Pre-Frontal Cortex
*Behaviorally unable to emotionally regulate, persistent worry, and avoidance of emotional intimacy due to overwhelm = Avoidant Attachment
How do you think CORTISOL is impacted in PTSD?
Heightened
Leads to lower immunity
How do you think DOPAMINE is impacted in PTSD?
DOMAPINE DYSREGULATED (not balance out what it is responding to)
plays role in pain management.
Deadens emotional pain receptors, increases physical pain receptors
because of this…senstiive higher impact
highgly sensitive to things that increase that pain response…so also highly sensitive to things that sedate that response
