Attachment issues4/29/2023 ![]() In short, sensitive mothers are more likely to be gentle and compassionate to a child’s needs, and this sensitivity can lead the infant to develop more secure attachments. ![]() Attachment Style ResultsĪinsworth’s ‘maternal sensitivity’ hypothesis suggests that the ‘sensitivity’ the caregiver demonstrates towards a child determines the style of attachment that is developed. These interactions were based on two reunion episodes during the observation. Mother also departs, leaving the baby completely aloneĪfter the study, Ainsworth scored each of the responses and grouped them into four interaction behaviours: closeness and contact seeking, maintaining contact, avoidance of closeness and contact, resistance to contact and proximity.Mother comes back, and the stranger departs.The mother leaves stranger and baby alone.In short episodes, the children, mothers and experimenters were observed in the following eight scenarios: Ainsworth’s sample of children represented 100 middle-class American families. The set up was conducted in a small room with one way glass so that the children could be easily observed. Using the strange situation model, Ainsworth studied one to two-year-olds to determine the styles of attachment and the nature of attachments displayed between mother and child. This observational study was titled ‘strange situation’ and was developed by Ainsworth and Wittiq in 1969. This involved eight short episodes (lasting around 3 minutes) where a mother, child, and stranger are introduced, separated and then reunited. In the 1970s, developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth did a study on infants between the ages of 9-18 months old the study observed attachment security in children within the paradigm of caregiver relationships. According to Bowlby, attachment is distinguished by specific behaviours from children, such as seeking closeness to an attachment figure when feeling upset or threatened (Bowlby, 1969). Interestingly, attachment doesn’t have to be reciprocal and is it possible for one person to be attached to another without it being reciprocated. ![]() This research conflicts with ‘behavioural theorists’ who suggest that when a child is fed – separation anxiety dissipates.īowlby and Robertson observed that children were unable to be comforted when a parent was absent regardless of whether they were fed or not.īowlby and Robertson’s research goes against behavioural theory which states that children attach to the mother through feeding. They found that when separated from a parent, the children consistently displayed signs of distress. “Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another person across time and space.” (Ainsworth, 1973: Bowlby, 1969)Įxploring the parent-child relationship further, Bowlby and his colleague James Robertson researched a group of small infants. He soon discovered that early infant separation could lead to later maladjustment, and thus attachment theory was developed. Throughout his work in the 1930s, Bowlby worked as a psychiatrist at a London clinic where he treated mentally ill children.ĭuring this time, Bowlby recognised the important dynamic between parent and child and how deeply this dynamic can impact social, emotional and cognitive development. John Bowlby, psychologist and psychoanalyst, proposed the attachment theory throughout the 1950s and 1960s and made notable contributions to the field of psychotherapy for his work on attachment.Īlthough Bowlby did not dispute the possibility of children forming multiple bonds with different people, he still upholds the view that since it is the first connection established, the bond between mother and baby is the strongest of all.Īttachment theory examines how the caregiver-child bond develops and its impact on consequential development.
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