week 6: attachment and beyond

function of attachment:

• psychoanalytic = drive reduction device

• harlow = security, mother is the secure base

• bowlby = ethological theory of attachment

  • genes produce certain behaviours

  • adaptive behaviours promote survival

    • built in behaviours keep adult near

    • feeling of security leads to exploration

  • genes are passed onto next generation

  • “biologically based, active behaviour related to the infants need for protection in order to survive”

  • “type of affectional bond in which a person’s sense of security is bound up in the relationship”

attachment phases:

• pre attachment: birth-6 weeks

  • proximity promoting behaviours towards everyone

  • no attachment

• attachment in the making: 6 weeks-6/8 months

  • proximity promoting behaviours towards some people

• clear cut attachment: 6/8 months-18/24 months

  • object permanence

  • separation anxiety

  • proximity seeking behaviour towards designated safe base

  • social referencing

• goal corrected partnership: 18 months onwards

  • contact no longer needs to be physical

  • collaborative planning

internal working model = mental representation of relationship with attachment figure that sets expectations for future interactions with that person

• includes expectations of availability/reliability/affection/assurance

• develops from 12 months-5 years old

• forms template for future relationships beyond attachment figure

strange situation - see slides for attachment types/characteristics

• strengths:

  • relatively stable/constant procedure for 50 years

  • adopted in over 20 countries

  • not impacted by some demographic factors

• weaknesses:

  • not appropriate for measuring attachment security across all cultures

  • more research with non weird samples required

  • subject to sociological changes

maternal sensitivity = development of emotional availability, synchrony, mutuality, contingent responsiveness

• modest effect on security of attachment

• consistent across attachment measures

• related to security and insecurity

• findings are consistent across different designs and methods

• cross culturally generalisable

• can be targeted effectively with tailored intervention

genetics - very little support for substantial variance in attachment explained by genetic factors

temperament - some evidence for associations between temperament and ambivalent/avoidant behaviours but not insecure attachment

• may contribute to expression of insecurity

• parental care can impact on temperament and attachment

competence hypothesis = formation of a secure attachment in childhood prepares a child for other social challenges

• daily interactions with sensitive caregivers =

  • more opportunities to learn competent social interaction and emotional regulation skills

  • more positive expectations of others/greater sense of self efficacy

    • facilitates social relationships

emotional development:

• lacking a secure base directly leads to feelings of anxiety and indirectly leads children to be less socially/emotionally competent

• secure base interaction is used to emotionally regulate

  • is also used to learn about emotions and how to regulate them

• insecure attachment is modestly correlated with adolescent anxiety/depression

  • more longitudinal data is needed to establish a causal link here

  • lower awareness of emotions and less ability to manage them causes higher anxiety compared to securely attached children

  • associated with externalising aggressive and antisocial behaviours

social development:

• securely attached children at 15 months more likely to have better social functioning at school aged 8-9 than insecurely attached children

  • more socially active/positive/popular

  • less social anxiety

cognitive development:

• secure attachment in children aged 36 months is correlated with higher vocabulary stores and higher overall cognitive development

• lower cognitive skills for insecure/ambivalent children aged 6-7

• lower maths/reading skills predicted for children aged 10-11 with insecure/disorganised attachment style

attachment in adolescence:

• attachment to friends is as strong as parental attachment in 9-15 y/o, but friend attachment becomes stronger in 16-18 y/o and trend continues post 18

• increases in parent/teen conflict do not affect quality of attachment if parent is warm/responsive/open to discussion/supportive

• secure relationships with parents are associated with good peer relationships

• adult attachment based on state of mind towards attachment and meaning assigned to past experiences with attachment figures

  • autonomous secure iwm = value attachments/talk objectively about good/bad qualities

  • dismissing avoidant iwm = minimise importance of early family experience and idealise parents

  • preoccupied ambivalent iwm = inconsistent/role reversed parenting, struggling to please/angry with parents

transmission of attachment:

• attachment styles are able to transfer from one generation to the next and impacts on parental behaviour in toddlers

  • secure adult attachment leads to authoritative parents

  • disorganised adult attachment leads to a permissive parenting style

  • neglectful parenting leads to insecure avoidant attachment

• see slides for what each parenting style leads to increased likelihood of

bronfenbrenner’s bioecological approach:

• family is the filter through which the larger society influences child development

• family socialise the child but protect the child from societal harms

• explores how various environmental influences impacting child development are interrelated with each other and the child’s biology

• in order to understand development you have to understand how everything interacts

  • microsystems = all settings where child has direct experience (family/childcare)

  • mesosystems = interactions between microsystems

  • exosystems = child has no direct experience but is indirectly impacted by their effect on microsystems (family workplace/parents’ friends)

  • macrosystems = cultural/subcultural settings in which everything else is embedded (local neighbourhood, ethnic identity)

• goes beyond excessive focus on mother-infant relationship

• van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg