Attachment: Types of Attachment
Types of attachment
Attachment is a word used by psychologists to describe the relationship between children and their caretakers. When we watch the behavioural patterns that characterize this relationship, four types of attachment are seen: secure, avoidant, anxious, and disorganized. Avoidant and anxious attachment are organized forms of insecure attachment, meaning that these children are observed to be insecure in their attachment to the mother, but have modified themselves and their interactions with their mother in an organized way. Children who are disorganized, also an insecure attachment, have not developed an organized way to respond to their caregiver for reasons we will see in a moment. These categories were developed by Mary Ainsworth.
Secure Attachment (Type B):
From the time infants are six months to two years of age, they form an emotional attachment to an adult who is attuned to them, that is, who is sensitive and responsive in their interactions with them. It is vital that this attachment figure remain a consistent caregiver throughout this period in a child’s life. During the second year, children begin to use the adult as a secure base from which to explore the world and become more independent. A child in this type of relationship is securely attached. Dr. Dan Siegel emphasizes that in order for a child to feel securely attached to their parents or care-givers, the child must feel safe, seen and soothed. An example is the child will explore a room while the parent is present. If the parent leaves the room, the child will show signs of missing the parent during the separation. After the reunion, the child will settle and resume play.
Avoidant Attachment (Type A):
There are adults who are emotionally unavailable and, as a result, they are insensitive to and unaware of the needs of their children. They have little or no response when a child is hurting or distressed. These parents discourage crying and encourage independence. Often their children quickly develop into “little adults” who take care of themselves. These children pull away from needing anything from anyone else and are self-contained. They have formed an avoidant attachment with a misattuned parent. These children often fail to cry when separated from the parent, avoids and ignores the parent when reunited e.g. by moving away, and shows little or no proximity or contact-seeking, no distress or anger at separations. These children tend to focus more on toys and the environment than on a caregiver in new and strange situations.
Ambivalent/Anxious Attachment (Type C):
Some adults are inconsistently attuned to their children. At times their responses are appropriate and nurturing but at other times they are intrusive and insensitive. Children with this kind of parenting are confused and insecure, not knowing what type of treatment to expect. They often feel suspicious and distrustful of their parent but at the same time they act clingy and desperate. These children have an ambivalent/anxious attachment with their unpredictable parent. These children show little exploration of their environment, they may be wary or distressed prior to separation. They seem preoccupied with the status and location of the parent, and may appear angry or passive. After a separation, these children fail to take comfort in the parent when reunited and continue to focus on the parent and fuss. They fail to return to exploration after reunion.
Main and Soloman - Disorganized Attachment (Type D):
When a parent or caregiver is abusive to a child, the child experiences the physical and emotional cruelty and frightening behaviour as being life-threatening. This child is caught in a terrible dilemma: her survival instincts are telling her to flee to safety but safety is the very person who is terrifying her. The attachment figure is the source of the child’s distress. In these situations, children typically disassociate from their selves. They detach from what is happening to them and what they are experiencing is blocked from their consciousness. Children in this conflicted state have disorganized attachments with their fearsome parental figures. This is the subtype most likely to develop into the psychiatric diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder. This pattern is most often associated with maltreatment from a parent who frightens the child. The child displays disorganized behaviours in the parent’s presence, suggesting a temporary collapse of behavioural integrity and organization. The child may freeze e.g. with a trance-like expression, may rise at parent’s entrance, then fall prone and huddle on the floor, or the child may cling, crying, leaning away with an averted gaze.
