Types of Attachment

An abundant amount of research has been done to explore the different types of attachment.  Using Bowlby's early formulation, a developmental psychologist named Mary Ainsworth conducted observational research in the 1960s and ‘70s on infant-parent dyads during the child's first year.  She combined extensive home visits with the study of behaviors in particular situations.  Ainsworth, who became an authority on attachment research, developed a research study in the 1960s called “The Strange Situation,” in which early childhood researchers created a scenario to assess how children use their parents as a secure base for exploration.  Out of her research emerged the following four basic categories of attachment:

  1. Secure Attachment: This child uses the parent or care provider as a secure base for exploration and demonstrates a positive, engaged, and open style of interaction (verbally and nonverbally).  The secure child may be comforted by a stranger, but shows clear preference for the primary caregiver.
  2. Avoidant Attachment (Insecure):  This child shows little or no distress upon their caregiver’s departure, little or no response to their return, and even ignores or turns away when an effort to make or maintain eye contact is made.  There is also very little affective sharing during playtime with this child.   
  3. Ambivalent or Resistant Attachment (Insecure):  This child is most often seen as the clingy child who has few self-soothing skills and generally displays a negative mood. The child is unable to use their caregiver as a secure base, but seeks proximity before separation even occurs.  He or she is visibly distressed upon separation and is preoccupied with the caregiver’s return. In addition, this child is not easily calmed by a stranger in the caregiver’s absence.
  4. Disorganized Attachment:  Depending on the day and the environment, the disorganized child does not fit any one category. This child may display a lack of coherent coping strategies that may be evidenced by contradictory, disoriented behaviors such as approaching, but with his or her back turned.

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