Name of the School: School of Liberal Education

Course Code: K1UA306T Course Name: Life Span Development

Topic: Attachment Relationships

Faculty Name: DR. ALKA PANDEY Program Name: B.A. 2nd year
 Introduction

• Attachment relationships refer to the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their primary caregiver,
typically the mother.

• plays a crucial role in the child's social, emotional, and cognitive development.

• This bond provides the child with a sense of security and helps shape their future interactions with others.
• Attachment theory - focuses - relationships and bonds (particularly long-term) - between people -
between a parent and child and between romantic partners.
• Early bonds - may continue to have an influence on attachments throughout life.
 JOHN BOWLBY (1907- 1990)

• British psychologist

• Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps

• Experience with delinquent children

• Link between early infant separations with mother and later

maladjustment, led Bowlby to formulate his Attachment theory
 JOHN BOWLBY (1907- 1990)

• Attachment is a 'lasting psychological connectedness between human

beings.’

• Evolution based theory- Infants are biologically pre-programmed to form

attachments with primary caregivers in early life to increase their likelihood of
survival.
 Characteristics of attachment

• Proximity Maintenance: Attachment leads to a desire for closeness and contact with the caregiver,
especially in times of distress or uncertainty. This is the most basic characteristic of attachment,
where children seek proximity to the person they feel safest with.

• Safe Haven: When a child is frightened or feels insecure, they turn to their attachment figure for
comfort and safety. This person helps the child regulate their emotions and provides a sense of
protection.

• Secure Base: A secure attachment allows the child to explore the world with confidence, knowing
that they can return to their caregiver if needed. This concept allows for a balance between
autonomy and dependence.

• Separation Distress: The bond is so strong that separation from the caregiver leads to distress,
anxiety, and feelings of insecurity in the child. The intensity of this distress can vary depending on
the quality of the attachment.
 Three key propositions about attachment theory

• First, When children are raised with confidence that their primary caregiver will be
available to them, they are less likely to experience fear than those who are raised
without such conviction.

• Secondly, This confidence is forged (copied) during a critical period of development,

during the years of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The expectations that are
formed during that period tend to remain relatively unchanged for the rest of the
person's life.

• Finally, These expectations that are formed are directly tied to experience. In other
words, children develop expectations that their caregivers will be responsive to their
needs because, in their experience, their caregivers have been responsive in the
past.
 BOWLBY ATTACHEMENT THEORY

1. A child has an innate (i.e., inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure (i.e.,
monotropy)
2. A child should receive the continuous care of this single most important attachment
figure for approximately the first two years of life.
3. The long-term consequences of maternal deprivation might include the following:
delinquency, reduced intelligence, increased aggression, depression, affectionless
psychopathy
4. Bowlby (1952) believe that short-term separation from an attachment figure leads to
distress (i.e., the PDD model).
5. The child’s attachment relationship with their primary caregiver leads to the
development of an internal working model (Bowlby, 1969).
 PDD MODEL

Stages of distress

• Protest: The child cries, screams and protests angrily when the parent leaves.
They will try to cling on to the parent to stop them leaving.

• Despair: The child’s protesting begins to stop, and they appear to be

calmer although still upset. The child refuses others’ attempts for comfort and
often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything.

• Detachment: If separation continues the child will start to engage with other
people again. They will reject the caregiver on their return and show strong signs
of anger.
 Impact on Later Development

Securely attached children

• develop better social skills, self-esteem, and emotional regulation.
• more likely to form healthy relationships in adulthood.

Insecure attachment styles

• lead to difficulties in relationships
• emotional challenges
• potential mental health issues such as anxiety or depression
 Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation

• Developmental psychologists have devised a quick and direct way measuring attachment, Developed
by Mary Ainsworth.
• Ainsworth strange situation consists of sequence of events involving a child and (typically) his or her
mother.
• The infant’s behavior was observed during eight pre-determined ‘episodes’ of approximately 3
minutes each.

1. Mother, baby, and experimenter: The mother, accompanied by an observer, carried the baby into the room, and
then the observer left. This episode lasts less than one minute.

2. Mother and baby alone: The mother places the baby in a designated area, then sits quietly, only interacting if the
baby initiates. This episode lasts for three minutes.
 Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation

3. A stranger joins the mother and infant: A stranger enters the room, sitting silently for a minute, then
conversing with the mother for another minute before gradually approaching the baby with a toy. After
the third minute, the mother discreetly exits the room.

4. Mother leaves baby and stranger alone: If the baby was contentedly playing, the stranger didn’t
intervene. If the baby was inactive, the stranger attempted to engage him with the toys.
If the baby was upset, the stranger sought to distract or soothe him. If comfort couldn’t be provided, the
episode was cut short; otherwise, it continued for three minutes.

5. Mother returns, and the stranger leaves: The mother enters and momentarily pauses at the doorway,
allowing the baby to react to her presence spontaneously. The subsequent actions of the mother were
not pre-determined, except for instructions that once the baby resumed playing with toys, she would
leave again, pausing to say “bye-bye.” The duration of this episode wasn’t fixed.
 Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation

6. Mother leaves; infant left completely alone: The baby was left alone for three minutes unless they became more
distressed. If their distress increased, the time alone could be shortened.

7. Stranger returns: The stranger returned, acting as in the fourth episode for three minutes unless the baby’s distress
led to a premature ending. Ainsworth & Wittig had originally designed a different approach for the seventh
episode, which was tested on the initial 14 participants (infants) but resembled the more straightforward method
reported here and used for the remaining participants.

8. Mother returns, and the stranger leaves: The mother comes back, the stranger exits, and once the mother-child
reunion is noted, the scenario is concluded.

Babies’ reactions to the experimental situation vary drastically, depending, according to Ainsworth, on their degree of
attachment to the mother.
 Types of Attachment Relationships (Developed by Mary Ainsworth)

1. Secure Attachment

Characteristics:
• Children feel confident that their caregiver is responsive and reliable.
• They are distressed when the caregiver leaves but are quickly comforted upon their return.

Outcome: Children with secure attachments tend to develop into well-adjusted adults, capable of forming
healthy, trusting relationships.

2. Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

Characteristics:
Children seem indifferent to their caregiver’s presence or absence.
They avoid seeking comfort and prefer to be emotionally distant.

Outcome: These children may struggle with intimacy and have difficulty trusting others in relationships as
adults.
 Types of Attachment Relationships (Developed by Mary Ainsworth)
3. Insecure-Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment

Characteristics:
• Children are highly anxious when separated from their caregiver and are not easily soothed
upon their return.
• They show both clinginess and rejection, uncertain of the caregiver's availability.
Outcome: These individuals may become overly dependent on relationships and experience fear
of abandonment in adulthood.

4. Disorganized Attachment

Characteristics:
• Children exhibit confused or contradictory behaviors, often a result of inconsistent caregiving
or trauma.
• They may approach the caregiver but then freeze or pull away.
Outcome: Disorganized attachment is linked to difficulties with emotional regulation and mental
health issues in later life.
 Impact of Attachment Relationships

•Emotional Regulation: Secure attachments help individuals regulate their emotions effectively,
reducing anxiety and promoting emotional resilience.

•Social Competence: Those with secure attachments often display better social skills, empathy, and
the ability to build strong, lasting relationships.

•Cognitive Development: Secure attachments encourage curiosity and exploration, which are crucial
for learning and intellectual growth.

•Mental Health: Insecure or disorganized attachments are linked to greater vulnerability to mental
health issues like depression, anxiety, and personality disorders.
 Factors Influencing Attachment Formation:

• Consistency of Caregiving:
• Responsive and sensitive caregiving - secure attachments,
• neglect or inconsistency - insecure or disorganized attachment.
• Parent’s Attachment Style: Parents’ own attachment styles often influence how they
respond to their children’s emotional needs.
• Cultural and Environmental Factors: Different cultures may emphasize independence
or closeness, affecting how attachment relationships are formed.
Thank You