COMPARE AND CONTRAST ATTACHMENT THEORIES AND ITS

RELATION TO PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION:
Attachment theory focuses on relationship and bonds between people including those between a
parent and a child and also romantic partners. The theory suggests that people are born with a need to
forge bonds with caregivers as children. These early bonds may continue to have an influence of
attachments throughout life.
BOWLBY’S ATTACHMENT THEORY:
British psychologist John Bowlby was the first attachment theorist. He described attachment as a
“lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. Bowlby wanted to understand the
anxiety and distress children face when they are separated from their primary caregivers. Bowlby
believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a tremendous impact
that continues throughout life. He suggested that attachment also serves to keep the infant close to the
mother, thus improving the child's chances of survival.
Bowlby viewed attachment as a product of evolutionary processes. While the behavioral theories of
attachment suggested that attachment was a learned process, Bowlby and others proposed that
children are born with an innate drive to form attachments with caregivers.
Throughout history, children who maintained proximity to an attachment figure were more likely to
receive comfort and protection, and therefore more likely to survive to adulthood. Through the
process of natural selection, a motivational system designed to regulate attachment emerged.
Behaviorists suggest that it was food that led to forming this attachment behavior, but Bowlby and
others demonstrated that nurturance and responsiveness were the primary determinants of attachment.
The four distinct phases of attachment that was proposed were:
I. Pre-Attachment Stage
From birth to 3 months, infants do not show any particular attachment to a specific caregiver. The
infant's signals, such as crying and fussing, naturally attract the attention of the caregiver and the
baby's positive responses encourage the caregiver to remain close.
II. Indiscriminate Attachment
Between 6 weeks of age to 7 months, infants begin to show preferences for primary and secondary
caregivers. Infants develop trust that the caregiver will respond to their needs. While they still accept
care from others, infants start distinguishing between familiar and unfamiliar people, responding more
positively to the primary caregiver.
III. Discriminate Attachment
At this point, from about 7 to 11 months of age, infants show a strong attachment and preference for
one specific individual. They will protest when separated from the primary attachment figure
(separation anxiety), and begin to display anxiety around strangers (stranger anxiety).

IV. Multiple Attachments

After approximately 9 months of age, children begin to form strong emotional bonds with other
caregivers beyond the primary attachment figure. This often includes a second parent, older siblings,
and grandparents.

AINSWORTH’S STRANGE SITUATION:

In her research in the 1970s, psychologist Mary Ainsworth expanded greatly upon Bowlby's original
work. Her groundbreaking "strange situation" study revealed the profound effects of attachment on
behavior. In the study, researchers observed children between the ages of 12 and 18 months as they
responded to a situation in which they were briefly left alone and then reunited with their mothers.
Based on the responses the researchers observed, Ainsworth described three major styles of
attachment: secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment.
Later, researchers Main and Solomon (1986) added a fourth attachment style called disorganized-
insecure attachment based on their own research.
I. Secure Attachment Style:
The child gets distressed when the mother leaves. The child is avoidant of the stranger when alone
but friendly when the mother is present. When the mother and child are reunited, the child feels
positive and happy. The child uses the mother as a safe base to explore their environment. This
was found in 70% of the children.
II. Resistant Attachment Stye:
The child is in intense distress when the mother leaves. The infant avoids the stranger and shows
fear of the stranger. The infant approaches the mother but resists contact and may even push her
away when reunited. The infant cries more and explores less than the other two types. This was
found in 15% of the children.
III. Avoidant Attachment Style:
The child shows no sign of distress when the mother leaves. The infant is okay with the stranger
and plays normally when the stranger is present. The infant shows little interest when the mother
is reunited with the child. The mother and the stranger are able to comfort the infant equally well.
This was found in 15% of the children.
IV. Disorganized Attachment Style:
This was later added as the fourth attachment style by Main and Solomon in 1986 based on their
own research.
Ainsworth (1978) suggested the ‘caregiver sensitivity hypothesis to explain different attachment
types.
Ainsworth’s maternal sensitivity hypothesis argues that a child’s attachment style depends on their
mother’s behavior towards them.
‘Sensitive’ mothers are responsive to the child’s needs and respond to their moods and feelings
correctly. Sensitive mothers are more likely to have securely attached children.
In contrast, mothers who are less sensitive towards their child, for example, those who respond to
the child’s needs incorrectly or who are impatient or ignore the child, are likely to have insecurely
attached children. For example, securely attached infants are associated with sensitive and
responsive primary care.
Insecure ambivalent attachment is associated with inconsistent primary care. Sometimes, the
child’s needs and met, and sometimes they are ignored by the caregiver.
Insecure-avoidant attachment is associated with unresponsive primary care. The child comes to
believe that communication of needs has no influence on the mother/father.
Ainsworth’s (1971, 1978) findings provided the first empirical evidence for Bowlby’s (1969)
theory of internal working models of attachment relationships.
For example, securely attached children develop a positive working model of themselves and
have mental representations of others as being helpful while viewing themselves as worthy of
respect (Jacobsen, & Hoffman, 1997).
Bowlby proposed that attachment is a biologically programmed system that seeks to ensure the
infant’s proximity to a primary caregiver usually the mother.
Whereas Ainsworth extended Bowlby’s ideas and developed the concept of attachment styles and
identified three primary attachment patterns.
The primary focus of Bowlby’s work laid the theoretical groundwork for understanding
attachment. Whereas Ainsworth’s research specialized in the development of strange situation
procedure and provided a practical tool for assessing and categorizing the attachment patterns in
children.
Bowlby established the theoretical framework of attachment theory and emphasized its
evolutionary roots, Ainsworth's contributions were more empirical and focused on identifying
specific attachment patterns and the influence of caregiver sensitivity. Together, their work has
significantly shaped our understanding of early childhood attachment and its impact on later
development.
HARLOW’S MATERNAL DEPRIVATION STUDIES:
Harry Harlow's infamous studies on maternal deprivation and social isolation during the 1950s
and 1960s also explored early bonds. In a series of experiments, Harlow demonstrated how such
bonds emerge and the powerful impact they have on behavior and functioning.
In one version of his experiment, newborn rhesus monkeys were separated from their birth
mothers and reared by surrogate mothers. The infant monkeys were placed in cages with two
wire-monkey mothers. One of the wire monkeys held a bottle from which the infant monkey
could obtain nourishment, while the other wire monkey was covered with a soft terry cloth.
While the infant monkeys would go to the wire mother to obtain food, they spent most of their
days with the soft cloth mother. When frightened, the baby monkeys would turn to their cloth-
covered mother for comfort and security.
Harlow's work also demonstrated that early attachments were the result of receiving comfort and
care from a caregiver rather than simply the result of being fed.
ATTACHMENT DISORDERS (PSYCHOPATHOLOGY)
In some cases, children may also develop attachment disorders. There are two attachment
disorders that may occur: reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement
disorder (DSED).
  Reactive attachment disorder occurs when children do not form healthy bonds with
caregivers. This is often the result of early childhood neglect or abuse and results in
problems with emotional management and patterns of withdrawal from caregivers.
 Disinhibited social engagement disorder affects a child's ability to form bonds with others
and often results from trauma, abandonment, abuse, or neglect. It is characterized by a
lack of inhibition around strangers, often leading to excessively familiar behaviors around
people they don't know and a lack of social boundaries.
Our understanding of attachment theory is heavily influenced by the early work of researchers such as
John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Today, researchers recognize that the early relationships children
have with their caregivers play a critical role in healthy development. Such bonds can also have an
influence on romantic relationships in adulthood