What Are The Four Patterns Of Attachment

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.

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)

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.

Bowlby defined attachment as “a lasting psychological integration bounded by human beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p.194). However, attachment can also be described as a strong, mutual, emotional connection or relationship formed between two people, mostly between infant and its caregiver. According to Macoby (1988) attachment has four key characteristics which are: proximity; where an infant always want to stay near the attached caregiver. Separation anxiety; is when the infant is distressed when separated from the caregiver. Pleasure, when the infant and the caregiver feel pleasure at reunion and lastly frequent contact; where the infant is always conscious of the caregiver and desire to be in contact with caregiver.

Attachment theory is rooted in the biological concept that children seek proximity to their parents or caregivers as a mean to survive stressful or dangerous situation. Interaction between children and their care givers are integrated into representational or internal working models that guide children understanding of current and future relationships, including expectations regarding the trustworthiness and predictability of others. Attachment security is fostered when children trust that their care-givers are accessible and capable of responding to their needs and safety. Parental divorce is a stressful time that may initiate different changes.

As previously mentioned, there are four categories in which attachment patters can be divided, but there are two main ways it can be differentiated. We have secure attachment, which we will be going more into detail in this section, and there is also insecure attachment, which we will be discussing a bit later. “Secure attachment provides a sense of safety and security, it regulates emotions and it offers a secure base” (Divecha, 2017). What this basically means is that the proper reinforcement and appropriate emotional support is provided for the individual at a young age. This is crucial in order to be able to trust not only in others, but also in oneself as an individual. This assuredness allows and provides the individual the ability to

Parents are a vital factor in the development of their children. Many parents fill various roles as teachers, playmates, caregivers, and disciplinary figures; but one of the most important roles that a parent can hold is that of an attachment figure. The attachment between a child and their attachment figure is a strong predictor of the child’s later social and emotional wellbeing (Benoit, 2004). John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth worked together to come to the principle of attachment theory (Bretherton, 1992).

There are three patterns of attachment according to Mary Ainsworth (et al., 1978): secure, resistant and avoidant. These were established in the strange-situation test created by Ainsworth. This involved a playroom being set up where a child their caregiver and an unfamiliar adult engage in a series of eight situations to observe caregiver and child interactions, the effects of separations from caregivers and encounters with strangers, and their reunion afterwards. The patterns of attachment are based on how

Calisir (2009) stated that attachments help children give meaning to the world, self, and the child’s personality development is dependent upon attachments formed. According to the attachment theory, children are born unattached and as the child interacts with their caregiver’s, attachment is formed and stays with the child throughout their entire life (Zeanah et al., 2011). The quality of care provided by the parents, to the child, determines the type of attachment that is formed and how the child develops as an adult (Monks et al.,

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.

Blakely and Diadosz (2015) reported that the key concepts in the attachment theory are the Attachment Behavioral System (ABS), attachment style, and working model. The ABS was said to be “concerned with the proximity of the primary attachment figure when there was a threat of separation: if the attachment figure was not nearby or nonresponsive the child would have displayed anxious behaviors until they returned” (Blakely & Diadosz, 2015, p. 284). The second aspect of the theory was said to be the attachment style, which

In Essentials of Psychology, attachment is a term that is defined as the intense emotional connection shared between a child and their predominant caretaker. Attachment can be classified into two different types: secure or insecure attachment. If the bond shared between both the the predominant caregiver and child is secure, then the child believes that they are worthy of the love they receive and they are able to trust their caregivers as a result. On the other hand, if the bond formed is an insecure attachment, then the child feels as though they do not deserve the love they are be given and they can’t trust anyone.

John Bowlby, who originally developed the theory of attachment, describes it as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Somerville, 2009). Furthermore, there are four main characteristic of infant attachment, proximity maintenance, safe haven, secure base, and separation distress. Proximity maintenance is the desire to stay close to the people we have formed an attachment. Safe haven refers to the action of returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety when danger or fear is present. A secure base is a place where the attachment figure acts as a base of security from which a child can explore the surrounding world. Separation distress is the anxiety that occurs when the attachment figure is absent (Cherry, 2011).

Attachment theory is a foundational concept that helps link my hunger for love and connection and the pain I feel wanting to attach and yet not feeling secure or nourished in attaching. Dan Siegel explores what happens when the child’s emotional needs were rejected from his primary caregivers and an avoidantly attached child

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects a caregiver to their child. The relationship between the caregiver and the child plays a vital role in the child’s behavior, mind, and emotions at any time in their life, from child to adulthood. A child’s attachment style is developed through childhood experiences. Depending on the style of attachment influences how a person reacts to their needs and how they go about getting them met. When there is a secure attachment individuals are confident and independent and know how to get theirs and their significant others needs met. However, when there is an insecure attachment individuals express anxious, avoidant, and ambivalent behaviors, which makes them unsure of what type of romantic partner they need in their life to satisfy, love, and accept them. While many believe that a person’s attachment style does not impact their relationships, I conceive that a child’s attachment style affects everything in their adult romantic relationships. From their partner selection to how well their relationship progresses and how it ends.