Describing secure and insecure attachment

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Describing secure and insecure attachment
Brunner Messinger
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Review Attachment defined

• What is the difference between being attached and
  being securely attached?
• What is the evidence (review Harlow) that
  attachment is a primary motivational system?
• How does the attachment system work and what is
  its evolutionary function?
• What is the difference between attachment
  behaviors, the attachment system, and the
  attachment bond?

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Describing secure and insecure attachment

•  How is security of attachment assessed in the
  Strange Situation?
• Describe secure attachment and avoidant, anxious,
  and disorganized attachment?
• Use descriptions to inform paper
• Watch other types of interaction to understand
  how attachment security relates to play
  interaction
• Empirical project tie-in 

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Attachment system

• Stress activates the attachment system reveals
  the childs strategy
• Security is an equilibrium
• Avoidance is deactivation/shutting down
• Resistance is over-activation/acting up

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Measuring attachment security

• A construct (secure attachment)
• Is different than its measurement or
  operationalization
• Attachment security can be measured with a Q-sort
  (an intricate rating system)
• Prototypically measured with the Strange
  Situation (12 36 months at least)

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Q-sort example

• Secure Base Support for Social Competence
  Attachment Q-sort Correlates of Security and
  Social Competence in a Sample of African-American
  Children Attending Head Start
• Kelly Bost, Brian E. Vaughn, Carrol Heller

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AQS ITEM NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION

• Child keeps track of mother's location around the
  house.74.3536.
• Child clearly shows a pattern of using mother as
  secure base.70.5062.
• When child is in a happy mood, he/she likely to
  stay that way.65.2083.
• When child is bored, he/she goes to mother for
  something to do.63.13 9.
• Child is lighthearted and playful most of the
  time.62.2587.
• If mother laughs or approves, child repeats it
  again and again.58.3511.
• Child often hugs or cuddles against mother
  without her inviting.57.1066.
• Child easily grows fond of adults who visit and
  are friendly.57.2444.
• Child asks for and enjoys having mother hold,
  hug, and cuddle.57.1228.
• Child enjoys relaxing in mothers lap.54.1878.
• Child enjoys being hugged and held by people
  other than parent.53.2590.
• If mother moves very far, child follows along and
  plays in area.52.21 7.
• Child laughs and smiles easily with a lot of
  different people.52.2189.
• Child's facial expressions are clear and strong
  when playing.51.2415.
• Child is willing to talk to new people show toys
  if mother asks.49.3414.
• When child finds something new to play with shows
  to mom.49.3518.
• Child follows mother's suggestions
  readily.48.1870.
• Child quickly greets mom with a big smile when
  she enters room.47.1643.
• Child stays closer to mother or returns more
  often than keeping track.46.22 1.

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Cross-cultural assessment

• 2,000 Ainsworth strange situation classifications
  obtained in 8 different countries.
• Intracultural variation was nearly 1.5 times the
  cross-cultural variation.
• Some samples from one country resembled those in
  other countries more than they did each other.
• Cross-cultural differences
• Avoidant classifications emerge relatively more
  prevalent in Western European countries
• resistant classifications relatively more
  frequent in Israel and Japan.

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Strange Situation classification shows only
moderate stability

• Similar to Seifer et al., MLS findings
• And similar to Belsky, Campbell, Cohn, Moore,
  1996 findings

NICHD, 2001, Dev. Psy
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Strange Situation protocol8 episodes, 3 min. each

• 1 mother given instructions outside room
• 2 mother child in room
• 3 stranger enters
• 4 1st separation (stranger present)
• 5 1st reunion
• 6 2nd separation (baby alone)
• 7 stranger reunion
• 8 2nd reunion

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Reunion coding scales

• Proximity seeking
• Contact maintenance
• Avoidance
• Resistance
• 1(low) -7 (high)
• Disorganization
• 1 to 9

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Proximity seeking

• The intensity and persistence of the babys
  efforts to gain (or regain) contact or proximity
  to mother.
• High score very active effort and initiative
• Low score weak or no effort may interact over a
  distance

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Proximity seeking behaviors

• Immediate (vs. Delayed) approach to mom
• Purposeful and effective approach
• Going all the way to mother and making contact
• Reaching for pick up

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Contact Maintenance

• Degree of activity and persistence in babys
  efforts to maintain contact with mother once
  contact has been gained.
• High score active persistent effort
• Low score little to no effort

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Contact Maintenance Behaviors

• Resisting release, clambering up after being put
  down
• Protesting release by crying
• Clinging on attempted release
• Remaining in contact after being put down i.E.
  Holding on to mothers knee

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Avoidance

• Intensity, persistence, duration and promptness
  of the babys avoidance of proximity and
  interaction, even across a distance.
• High score marked, persistence avoid. Behaviors
• Low score little to no behaviors observed
• Avoidance coding is stopped at point of contact

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Physiology

• Higher heart rate for avoidant infants

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Avoidance Behaviors

• Delay in responding to moms entrance
• Ignoring moms entrance No greeting given
• Busying self with toys at point of reunion
• Gaze aversion when mom bids
• Trying to go past mom out the door
• Orienting body away from mom

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Resistance

• Intensity and frequency or duration of resistant
  behavior evoked by the person who comes into
  contact with or proximity to the baby, or who
  attempts to initiate interaction or play
  ambivalence about contact.
• High score intense persistent resistance
• Low score little or no resistance observed
• resistance is tied to contact with mom

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Resistance Behaviors

• Angry mood, pouting, petulance, distress, cranky
  fussing, temper tantrum
• Squirming when held
• Rejection of toys when mom offers
• Not easily calmed
• Crying after being calmed
• Crying in response to increased proximity

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Disorganization

• Inexplicable behavior
• No goal/strategy
• Behavior suggests infant fears caregiver
• Disorganized behavior should occur with caregiver
  and is given more weight if it occurs early in
  reunion

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Coding disorganization

• Behavior indicative of conflict, fear, and
  confusion in relation to their attachment figure
  . . . Sequential or simultaneous display of
  contradictory behavior patterns undirected,
  misdirected, incomplete, and interrupted
  movements and expressions stereotypes,
  asymmetrical movements, mistimed movements, and
  anomalous postures freezing, stilling, and
  slowed movements and expressions and direct
  indexes of apprehension, disorganization, or
  disorientation. (Belsky et al., 1996)

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Disorganized behavior

• Sequential/simultaneous displays of contradictory
  behaviors
• Incomplete and stereotypic movements
• Freezing/stilling/slowing
• Indices of apprehension
• A 9-point Disorganization scale where scores of
  5 indicate disorganization.

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Physiology

• Disorganized infant have higher stress reactions
  (salivary cortisol) than other infants
• in the Strange Situation two studies
• Reasonably stable categorization
• R.34 over x 25 months
• Meta-analysis Van Ijzendoorn, Schuengel,
  Bakermans-Kranenburg (1999)
• Higher heart rate for avoidant infants

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Classifications

• A Insecurely attached, AVOIDANT type
• (A1, A2 subclassifications)
• B Securely attached
• (B1, B2, B3, B4 subclassifications)
• C Insecurely attached, RESISTANT type
• (C1, C2 subclassifications)
• can classify with or without subclassifications
• D Insecurely attached, Disorganized types

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Overall strategy

• A Avoidant
• Avoid caregiver
• B Secure
• Seek and be comforted by caregiver
• C Resistant
• Seek caregiving without surcease
• D Disorganized
• Lack a coherent strategy

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Typical A Behaviors

• moderate to high avoidance in reunions
• low contact maintenance and proximity seeking in
  reunions
• show less overt distress in separations
• ignore mother at point of reunion
• less positive interactions with mother
• gaze aversion to mother and stranger

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A subclassifications

• A1 conspicuous avoidance throughout, no
  signaling to mom, appear neutral or uninterested.
• A2 mixed response, some tendency to greet and
  approach mixed with marked tendency to move away,
  will signal to mom.

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Typical B Behaviors

• More positive towards mother throughout
• Moderate to high levels of proximity seeking
  Moderate contact maintenance
• Usually distressed in separations, but able to be
  calmed and return to baseline levels of play

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B subclassifications I

• B1 neutral behavior may see some avoidance,
  little distress in separation. B1 child
  just is.
• B2 mix of some avoidance resistance, less need
  for contact than a B3. Moderate distress in
  separations.

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B subclassifications II

• B3 mom functions as a secure base balance
  between exploration contact, easily calmed by
  mom, function independently by end of reunion.
• B4 mix of some resistance, preoccupation with
  contact, short tether, unable to settle without
  mom present, quality of play returns.

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Typical C Behaviors

• less positive interactions with mother
• HIGHLY distressed in separations!
• preoccupied with mother throughout
• seek mother at point of reunion
• high contact maintenance and proximity seeking in
  both reunions
• not easily calmed may not return to baseline
  level of play

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C subclassifications

• C1 conspicuous resistance throughout mix of
  seeking and resisting contact, angry quality.
• C2 passive quality to behavior, limited
  exploration throughout, seem sad, depressed.

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Disorganized classification

• No coherent strategy
• Evolved from unclassifiable (A/C) babies
• Newer classification
• Both avoidant and resistant qualities
• or fearful behavior or unusual timing/sequence of
  behavior
• A, B, C vs. D

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MacArthur Preschool Attachment System (Cassidy
Marvin, 1992) per Seifer et al. in press, Child
Development

• Secure used caregiver as base for exploration,
• special quality to the relationship, minimal
  avoidant behavior, did not exhibit
  anxiety/conflict in close contact with caregiver.
  
• Anxious-Avoidant maintained affective neutrality
• refrained from personal content/intimacy in
  speech, maintained physical distance or avoided
  proximity/gaze, difficulty expressing emotion
  freely, not smooth emotional transitions.
• Anxious-Ambivalent - hostility, conflict,
  anger,
• difficult and protracted separations,
  unsuccessful attempts controlling behavior of
  caregiver
• Disorganized classification - take several forms
• successful control of caregiver behavior
  (punitive or role-reversed caregiving), atypical
  forms of insecure behavior, or unusual/contradicto
  ry patterns of behavior as described for
  18-month-olds.

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Other primary classifications

• U unclassifiable behavior does not form a
  coherent interpretable pattern may be forced
  into an A/B/C classification.
• A/C high scores in both avoidance and resistance
  in different episodes an indicator of
  disorganization.

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Review Syllabus