Attachment theory

Presented by: Bamo, Angel Mae

John Bowlby
-a British psychoanalyst (1907-1990), formulated the
theory that normal attachment in infancy is crucial to a
person’s healthy development.

- Attachment occurs when there is a “warm, intimate and

continuous relationship with the mother in which both find
satisfaction and enjoyment.”
 - the emotional tone between children and their
caregivers and is evidenced by an infant seeking
What is and clinging to the caregiving person, usually the
Attachment mother
? - he further described it as “lasting psychological
connectedness between human beings”
 -concerns the mother’s feelings for her infant.
Bonding of mother to infant occurs when there is
What is skin-to-skin contact between the two or when
other types of contact, such as voice and eye
Bonding? contact, are made
- essential in establishing unconditional love on
the part of the parent, as well as security and trust
on the part of the child.
 - an example of an instinctual attachment in
which certain stimuli can elicit innate behavioural
What is patterns during the first few hours of an animal’s
behavioural development.
Imprinting?
- It can profoundly impact how babies are raised,
both in humans and in other animals
 - Imprinting is important for raising the young, as it
encourages them to follow their parents which is
What is referred as “Filial Imprinting”.
Imprinting? - The imitated behaviors allow infants to become in
touch with their instincts as an intrinsic form of
learning.
Harry Harlow
- Demonstrated the emotional and behavioural effects of
isolating monkeys from birth and keeping them from
forming attachments. The isolates were withdrawn, unable
to relate to peers, unable to mate, and incapable of caring
for their offspring.
What are the Phases of
Attachment Theory?
 1st Phase:
Preattachment
Stage
- birth to 8 or 12 weeks
-babies orient to their mothers
-follow them with their eyes 180-
degree range
-turn toward and move rhythmically
with their mother’s voice
 2nd Phase:
Attachment in
the making
- 8-12 weeks to 6 months
-infants become attached to one or
more persons in the environment
 3rd Phase:
Clear-cut
Attachment
- 6 through 24 months
-infants cry and show other forms of
distress when separated from the
caretaker or mother
- may occur as early as 3 months in
some infants
 3rd Phase:
Clear-cut
Attachment
-on being returned to the mother, infant
stops crying and clings, as if to gain
further assurance of the mother’s return
-sometimes, seeing the mother after a
separation is sufficient for crying to stop.
or more persons in the environment
 4th Phase
- 25 months and beyond
-the mother figure is seen as
independent and a more complex
relationshipbetween the mother and
child develops
Mary Ainsworth
- found that the interaction between the mother
and her baby during the attachment period
significantly influences the baby’s current and
future behavior
- sensitive responsiveness to infant signals, such
as cuddling a crying baby, causes infants to cry
less in later months, rather than reinforcing crying
behavior
Mary Ainsworth
- close bodily contact with the mother when the
baby signals for her is also associated with the
growth of self-reliance, rather than a clinging
dependence, as the baby grows older

- unresponsive mothers produce anxious babies

- attachment reduces anxiety
- secure base effect enables children to move
away from attachment figures and to explore the
environment
 - inanimate objects such as a
What are teddy bear and a blanket serve as
Transitional a secure base (by Donald
Objects? Winnicott)
Strange Situation

- The research protocol developed

by Ainsworth for assessing the
quality and security of an infant’s
attachment – the infant is exposed
to escalating amounts of stress.
According to the studies, 65% of
infants are securely attached by the
age of 24 months.
Strange Situation

In the 1960s, Ainsworth devised a

procedure, called A Strange
Situation, to observe attachment
relationships between a human
caregiver and child.

Strange Situation

In this procedure the child is

observed playing for 20 minutes
while caregivers and strangers
enter and leave the room,
recreating the flow of the familiar
and unfamiliar presence in most
children's lives. The situation varies
in stressfulness and the child's
responses are observed.
 - Parent and infant are introduced to the experimental room. while infant

Strange
explores.
- Parent and infant are alone. Parent does not participate

situation
- Stranger enters, converses with parent, then approaches infant. Parent
leaves inconspicuously.
- First separation episode: Stranger's behavior is geared to that of infant.
- First reunion episode: Parent greets and comforts infant, then leaves
again.
Second separation episode: Infant is alone. enters and gears behavior to
that of infant.
- Continuation of second separation episode: Stranger
- Second reunion episode: Parent enters, greets infant, and picks up infant;
stranger leaves inconspicuously.
 - The amount of exploration (e.g.
Strange playing with new toys) the child
situation engages in throughout.
- The child's reactions to the
departure and return of its caregiver.
 - Bowlby’s theory of anxiety holds that a child’s
sense of distress during separation is perceived
and experienced as anxiety and is the prototype of
Theory of anxiety. The mother’s ability to relieve the infant’s
Anxiety anxiety or fear is fundamental to the growth of
attachment in the infant.
- When the mother is close to the child and the
child experiences no fear, the child gains a sense
of security.
Separation Anxiety

- Expressed as tearfulness or irritability, is

the response of a child who is isolated or
separated from its mother or caretaker. It
is most common at 10 to 18 months, and
disappears generally at the end of the
third year.
Stranger Anxiety

- An anxiety response to
someone other than the
caregiver which appears at
about 8 months.

 -are infants’ signs of distress that prompt or elicit

a behavioural response in the mother
-the primary signal is crying
Signal -there are three types: hunger (the most common),
Indicators anger, and pain
-others that reinforce attachment are smiling,
cooing, and looking
-the sound of an adult human voice can prompt
these indicators
 - Characterized by biopsychosocial pathology that
results from maternal deprivation, a lack of care
by, and interaction with, the mother or caregiver
Disorder of - Failure-to-thrive syndromes, psychosocial
Attachment dwarfism, separation anxiety disorder, avoidant
personality disorder, depressive disorders,
delinquency, academic problems, and borderline
intelligence have been traced to negative
attachment experiences.
- Behavior patterns in children who are separated
from their mothers for long periods (more than 4
months)
 Protest

in which the child protests the

separation by crying, calling
out, and searching for the lost
parent.
 Despair

in which the child appears to

lose hope that the mother will
return.
 Detachment

in which the child emotionally

separates himself or herself
from the mother
 - Also known as hospitalism
- was 1st described be Rene Spitz in infants who
had made normal attachments but were then
Anaclitic suddenly separated from their mothers for varying
Depression times and placed in institutions or hospitals
- The children became depressed, withdrawn,
nonresponsive, and vulnerable to physical illness,
but recovered when their mothers returned or
when surrogate mothering was available.
 - It was a pediatric diagnosis used in the 1930s to
describe infants who wasted away while in
hospital.
- The symptoms could include retarded physical
Anaclitic development, and disruption of perceptual-motor
Depression skills and language.
- It is now understood that this wasting disease
was mostly caused by a lack of social contact
between the infant and its caregivers.
- Infants in poorer hospitals were less subject to
this disease since those hospitals could not afford
incubators which meant that the hospital staff
regularly held the infants.
Child Maltreatment

Abused children often maintain

their attachments to abusive
parents
Secure Attachment
- The child protests the mother's
departure and quiets promptly on the
mother's return, accepting comfort from
her and returning to exploration.

- The attachment figure responds

appropriately, promptly and consistently
to the emotional as well as the physical
needs of the child. She helps her child to
transition and regulate stress, and as a
result, the child uses her as a secure base
in the home environment.
Ambivalent Attachment

- The child shows sadness on the

mother's departure, ability to be picked
up by the stranger and even 'warm' to
the stranger, and on the mother's return,
some ambivalence, signs of anger,
reluctance to 'warm' to her and return to
play.
Ambivalent Attachment
- The attachment figure is inconsistent
with her child; she may at some times be
appropriate and at other times neglectful
to the child. The child raised in an
ambivalent relationship becomes
preoccupied with the mother's availability
and cannot explore his environment
freely or use his mother as a secure base.
The ambivalently attached child is
vulnerable to difficulty coping with life
stresses and may display role reversal
with the
mother.
Disorganized Attachment

The child presents stereotypes upon the

mother's return after separation, such as
freezing for several seconds or rocking.
This appears to indicate the child's lack of
coherent coping strategy. Children who
are classified as disorganized are also
given a classification as secure,
ambivalent or avoidant based on their
overall reunion behavior.
Disorganized Attachment

This can be associated with

frightened/disoriented behaviour,
intrusiveness/negativity and withdrawal,
role/boundary confusion, affective
communication errors and child
maltreatment.
Relationship Disorders
A person’s psychological health and
sense of well-being depend significantly
upon the quality of his or her
relationships and attachment to others,
and a core issue in all close personal
relationships is establishing and
regulating that connection.
 Anxious-ambivalent attachment style
– adults tend to be obsessed with romantic
Attachment partners, suffer from extreme jealousy, and have a
high divorce rate
Styles in
Relationship Avoidant attachment style
– persons are relatively uninvested in close
relationships, though they often feel lonely. They
seem afraid of intimacy and tend to withdraw
when there is stress in conflict in the relationship.
Break-up rates are high.
 Secure attachment
Attachment – persons are highly invested in relationships and
Styles in tend to behave without much possessiveness or
fear of rejection.
Relationship
Thank You!