Factors Influencing The Attachment Risk Model

Next on the continuum of attachment styles, the insecure-anxious-ambivalent child displays an extreme reaction of distress to their caregiver’s departure and a slight inclination to explore. (Connors, 2011) Upon the return of their parent or caregiver, this child is not comforted and physically resists contact. Noted by Ainsworth in her “Strange Situation”, this child’s “interactive behaviors are relatively lacking in active initiation” (Ainsworth et al., 1978), meaning the child, seeking validation, might respond to the return of their parent but this generally includes emotional outbursts instead of taking an active approach to their parent. The insecure-avoidant pattern of attachment displays an infant who lacks a secure base and fails to respond to both the departure and return of their primary caregiver. (Ainsworth et al., 1978), Further, the “Strange Situation” displayed this child as turning away or “squirming” when contact was reestablished between child and caregiver (Connors, 2011). Finally, the later addition of the attachment pattern insecure-disorganized explains children who demonstrate a mixture of attachment behaviors. This child often responds to their caregiver with opposing actions, such as approach-avoidance, and displays a degree of fear associated with that caregiver; it is theorized that there is a direct correlation between abused children and this particular

From an evolutionary perspective, John Bowlby made the connection that children form an attachment to their parents in the best interest of survival. Therefore, in a well functioning parent-infant relationship, infants learn to seek their parents in frightening situations and use them as a secure base (Hesse, 2014). However, Mary Ainsworth exemplifies that this is not the case for all infants. In the Strange Situation Study, Mary Ainsworth discovered three fundamental attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. A fourth attachment style was later discovered by Main and Solomon and classified as disorganized attachment. These are known as the four fundamental unidirectional types of attachment between an infant and their caregiver. These relationship patterns are often established between infant and primary caregiver during their early stages of life. In the following, I will exemplify how these attachment styles differ when the infant experiences significant disruptions in their family relationships because of changes in caregivers and separation from imprisoned parents?

The importance of a healthy attachment in early childhood development can lead to a better adult development and skills for daily life. A secure and healthy attachment to the caregiver in infancy to adolescence showcases the importance of building strong relationships and coping skills during periods of stress and anxiety. The research that has been found, goes into detail about the different types of attachments that infants and children can develop as well as what negative and positive aspects come along with the attachments.

Ainsworths ‘strange situation’ was developed as a tool to measure types of attachment in infants. The experiment was carried out in a purpose build playroom and children were observed with cameras. It consisted of several situations, standardised for all those who took part. Each condition involved variation of the presence of the mother and/or a stranger, over 3 minute intervals. During these different conditions, the child’s behaviour was monitored, assessing their exploratory behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation protest and reunion behaviour. From her study, Ainsworth identified three types of attachment, these were: secure, insecure- avoidant and insecure-resistant, she

Mary Ainsworth is known for her ‘Strange Situation’ (Custance 2010) studies with children. Her theory was that the quality of an infant’s attachment depends largely on the kind of attention the infant has received. She observed the attachment styles of children, mostly aged between 12 and 24 months, by placing them in an environment and recording their reactions to their mothers (or primary caregivers) leaving the room and then returning. Based on these observations Ainsworth concluded that there are different types of attachment. Three types of attachment are: ‘anxious-avoidant’, where the child shows little upset with the stranger, but will avoid contact with the parent on their return. The ‘securely attached’ child is one that will show moderate levels of proximity seeking towards the parents and is upset by their departure but deals with the parents return positively, often returning to play. The third type is the ‘anxious-resistant’ child; greatly upset by the parent’s departure and on reunion seems angry and will not be comforted or picked up (Custance 2010).

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

In order to determine an infant’s attachment type, Ainsworth established an experimental study known as, “Strange Situation” (Berger, 2014, p.144). This study was an experiment off of Bowlby’s findings that suggest attachment “related behaviors, are activated in times of personal distress” (Bernier, Larose, & Whipple, 2005, p. 172). Therefore, within this study, an infant’s attachment was determined by studying their behavior and level of distress within a new environment at the absence or presence of their caregiver. Additionally, Bernier represents the results of Larose and Boivin’s 1998 study that express a possible correlation between “Strange Situation” and the transition from high school to college (Bernier et al., 2005, p. 173) as both

“ (The Strange Situation). Based on the results of the Strange Situation, Ainsworth and her colleague identified three types of attachment styles, a secure attachment which composed a majority of the children in the experiment, insecure avoidant and ambivalent/resistant. For a child who has secure attachment can be “able to freely explore when the mother is around, interacts with the stranger when the mother is present but not when she is absent, shows distress when the mother leaves and is happy to see the mother return” (Mary Ainsworth). For a child that exhibits that inhibits “Anxious-Resistant Insecure Attachment is anxious to explore and is wary of the stranger even when the mother is present, is extremely distressed when the mother leaves, but is ambivalent when the mother returns. He will stay close to the mother upon her return, but will show resentment by resisting the mother's attention and pushing her away.” and for the child who inhibits “an Anxious-Avoidant Insecure Attachment will avoid or ignore the mother and show little emotion when his mother leaves and upon her

Development is an essential and mandatory constituent of human life that operates on multiple levels. It is a precise process, and there are a number of factors that affect its effectiveness. In particular, the development of a child is determinant of the adolescent behaviors, uniqueness and intelligence. Therefore, a considerable degree of weight is placed on the components that lead to the maturity of the child. In the development of a child, one of the key principles is called attachment. Just as safe attachment between the caregiver and the child can result in successful physical, mental and social development, vulnerable attachment can yield damaging consequences for the child in these areas (DeMulder, Denham, Schmidt, & Mitchell, 2000). Reactive attachment disorder is a likely outcome of unsafe attachment that eventually restricts the child’s capacity to emotionally and socially connect with other individuals, while destroying the cognitive ability as well (Crosson-Tower, 2013). This paper presents a detailed discussion on the attachment disorder in children and its impact on child development.

Securely attached children are confident that their mothers would be able to satisfy their needs. These children used their mothers as a point of reference so they can comfortably explore their surroundings, and they seek their mothers in times of distress (Main, & Cassidy, 1988). Consequently, the avoidant children would not use their mothers to explore their environment. These infants also would not seek their mothers during times of distress. Overall, the avoidant children were independent both physically and emotionally (Behrens, Hesse, & Main, 2007). Infants become avoidant when their attachment figures are unavailable during times of emotional distress. Contrarily, the infants with ambivalent attachment style would demonstrate dependent

Children whose caregivers are consistently inaccessible or rejecting tend to develop a strategy of minimizing the output of attachment behavior (Main, l990). These avoidant children appear to have little need for the attachment figure and show little overt distress, although they are angered and made anxious by rejection. Children of inconsistently available caretakers develop a strategy of maximizing attachment behaviors, because they are fearful of the caregiver's potential inaccessibility (Main, 1990).

Securely attached infants have a good quality of relationship with their parents. In the strange situation, where parents leave their child alone or with a stranger in a room full of toys, these children are upset when their parents leave, but easily comforted when they return. The child uses the parent as a “secure base” from which to explore the environment. In the strange situation, insecure/resistant infants

An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy, thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, “indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a stranger, as by their parent” (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory, many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one’s self esteem, well-being and their marital relationship.

These characteristics are well demonstrated in Mary Ainsworth’s experiment of the “strange situation.” Researcher Chris Fraley describes the study as, “a group of 12 month-old infants and their parents are brought in to the laboratory and, systematically separated from and reunited with one another.” Approximately 58 percent of the children demonstrated characteristics of secure attachment. When the parent left the room the child displayed signs of distress with a need to be close to the attachment figure. When the parent returned to the room, the child eagerly approached

In the first few months of life, the sole purpose of any child’s behaviour is to survive. This, more often than not, results in actions that reduce the risk of harm and increase the chances of longevity. Of these behaviours, some argue that the most influential is attachment behaviour. “Attachment behaviour is any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived as better able to cope with the world”(Bowlby, 1982). Therefore, children will make an effort to stay close to and under the protection of their primary caregiver. According to Webster, “through interactions with their primary caregiver, the child develops expectations and understandings about the workings of relationships. These mental representations of relationships become internalized to the degree that they influence feelings, thought and behaviour automatically and unconsciously” (1999, p.6). Moreover, the response of the identified individual plays a huge role in the child’s perception of the outside world. If the caregiver responds to the child’s needs in a caring and protective manner, the child will feel safe and comfortable in his or her surroundings. If, on the other hand, the caregiver is often emotionally and/or physically unavailable, the child is likely to