ATTACHMENT
From Alan Sroufe
University of Minnesota
Minnesota Longitudinal Study
180 Children born in poverty
 Assessment starting before birth
 Age-by-Age measures from birth to adult
 Focus on early relationships

The Attachment Relationship
Between Infant and Caregiver
 All Infants become attached
 Differences in attachment quality
 Patterning of care
 Organization of Attachment Behavior
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Models
Focus
Models
LIMITS
Models
Utility
Two Hypotheses
Quality of attachment depends on earlier
quality of care
 Infant attachment is the foundation for
personality development

Attachment and Bonding
Bonding refers to a mother’s initial reaction
to her baby
 Attachment refers to what happens over
the long haul (first few years of life)
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A relationship
Early Development

Newborns are not born blind

Recognition of general facial features
Some color vision & fairly good motion
perception
 Sense of smell and taste well developed
 Perception more developed than cognition

Bowlby Definition
(1950s)
Enduring emotional bond
 Effect on development

Representational Model
Unconscious structure create mental
representations
 Sets the stage for future interactions

MEASURING EARLY CARE
Sensitivity to early Care
 Cooperative vs. Intrusive Care
 Inconsistent care, rejection or emotional
unavailability leads to anxious attachment
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SECURE ATTACHMENT
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Effective use of caregiver as secure base
Clear preference for caregiver when distressed
Active initiation of contact following brief
separations
Ease of being comforted
65% are securely attached
Advantages in early development
Do not perform better in cognitive tasks but they
persist
RESISTANT (Anxious/Ambivalent)
ATTACHMENT
Poverty of exploration
 Wariness of separating
 Difficulty separating
 Difficulty being settled by caregiver


Visible Anger
RESISTANT (Anxious/Ambivalent)
ATTACHMENT

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Infant irritability
Low level of social support for
mother
Instability in the family
Boys are at greater risk
2 or more increases likelihood
AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT
Little obvious preference for caregiver
when stressed
 Little emotional sharing
 Active avoidance following brief separation
 35% in most samples
 Does not request support – doubts it will
be provided

DISORGANIZED ATTACHMENT
Caregiver as source of threat
 Irresolvable paradox
 Disorientation and incoherence
 Apprehension or confusion

SPECIAL AREAS
Babies develop clear, stable hierarchies of
attachment figures
 Mothers employed have securely attached
babies
 Part time working mother’s babies at no
risk
 Avoidant attachment increases if child
under 6 mo. and in day care >20hrs a wk
 No info about attachment to caretakers

DETERMINANTS OF
ATTACHMENT PATTERNS
Quality of care of primary caregiver
 Babies personality influence outcomes to
a degree
 Primary caregiver has long term influence
 No gender difference in attachment
patterns

ATTACHEMENT IMPLICATIONS
IN ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS
Secure adolescent – love experiences are
positive
 Anxious/avoidant adolescents and adults
have difficulty building, enjoying &
maintaining relationships
 Anxious/ambivalent adolescents and
adults have obsessional love relationships,
extreme sexual attraction and are jealous

How does attachment support
development?
As Motivational base
 As Attitudinal base
 Instrumental base
 Emotional base
 Relational base

MOTIVATIONAL BASE
Positive expectations concerning
relationships
 Basic sense of connectedness
 Belief that relationships will be rewarding

ATTITUDINAL BASE
Belief that one may elicit responses from
others
 Expectation of Mastery in the social world

INSTRUMENTAL BASE
Object mastery through support for
exploration
 Capacity to enjoy play and discovery

EMOTIONAL BASE
Modulated arousal
 Self-regulation of emotion

RELATIONAL BASE
Empathic responsiveness derived from
empathic care
 Expectations concerning reciprocity
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MAJOR OUTCOMES
SELF-RELIANCE
 CURIOSITY
 SELF-REGULATION
 COMPETENCE with PEERS
 MENTAL HEALTH or PATHOLOGY

Resistant Attachment
and
Later Psychopathology
Anxiety Problems
 Depression
 Interaction with infant temperament

Avoidant Attachment
and
Later Psychopathology
Conduct Problems
 Depression

Disorganized Attachment
and
Later Psychopathology
General Pathology
 Dissociation
 Conduct Problems
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DISORGANIZATION
TRAUMA
&
DISSOCIATION
Disorganized attachment + Trauma =
Predicts Dissociation
 Dissociation predicts = Frightening Parent
Behavior
 Frightening Parent Behavior = predicts
Disorganized Attachment
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