ATTACHMENT DURING INFANCY
Developmental Task of Infancy: Trust vs. Mistrust
As discussed in Chapter 1, Erik Erikson formulated a theory of psychosocial
development that posited that development is organized around eight age-graded
developmental tasks. At each age, infants, children, adolescents, and adults, negotiate
target developmental tasks that are specific to that period of development. When the
target task is negotiated successfully, it creates a foundation for future healthy
development and provides a basis for the successful negotiation of future
developmental tasks. When a task is not well resolved, this makes continued healthy
development more difficult.
The developmental task of infancy is trust vs. mistrust, and it is negotiated
in the establishment of a secure attachment relationship with the caregiver. Erikson
maintained that during the first year to year and a half of life the most important goal
is the development of a basic sense of trust in one’s caregivers (Erikson, 1982). Infants
are dependent and must rely on others to meet their basic physical and psychological
needs. A caregiver who consistently meets these needs instills a sense of trust or the
belief that the world is a trustworthy place. Caregivers should not worry about overly
indulging an infant’s need for comfort, contact, or stimulation. Caregiver
responsiveness communicates to infants that their needs will be taken care of, and so
is essential in supporting the development of a sense of trust. Problems establishing
trust: Erikson (1982) believed that basic mistrust could interfere with many aspects of
psychosocial development and make it more difficult to build love and fellowship with
others. Consider the implications for establishing trust if a caregiver is unavailable or
is upset and ill-prepared to care for a child. Or if a child is born prematurely, is
unwanted, or has physical problems that make him or her less attractive to a parent.
Under these circumstances, we cannot assume that the parent is going to care for the
child in ways that support the development of trust. As you will read later, it is possible
to rework mental models of insecure early relationships, but close and caring
relationships with primary caregivers make it much easier for infants to negotiate this
first developmental task.
What Babies Come With
Newborns are equipped with a number of reflexes which are involuntary
movements in response to stimulation (see Table 3.2). Some of the more common
reflexes, such as the sucking reflex and rooting reflex, are important to feeding. The
grasping and stepping reflexes are eventually replaced by more voluntary behaviors.
Within the first few months of life these reflexes disappear, while other reflexes, such
as the eye-blink, swallowing, sneezing, gagging, and withdrawal reflex stay with us as
they continue to serve important functions. Reflexes offer pediatricians insight into the
maturation and health of the nervous system. In preterm infants and those with
neurological impairments, some of these reflexes may be absent at birth. Once
present, they may persist longer than in a neurologically healthy infant (El-Dib,
Massaro, Glass & Aly, 2012). Reflexes that persist longer than they should can impede
normal development (Berne, 2006).
Forming Attachments
Attachment is a strong affectionate bond that binds an infant to a specific
intimate caregiver, and from which the infant derives a sense of security. The formation
of attachments in infancy has been the subject of considerable research since
attachments are viewed as foundations for future relationships. Additionally,
attachments form the basis for confidence and curiosity as toddlers, and are important
influences on self-concept. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory. According to Freud
(1938) infants are oral creatures who obtain pleasure from sucking and mouthing
objects. Freud believed the infant will become attached to a person or object that
provides this pleasure. Consequently, infants were believed to become attached to
their mother because she was the one who satisfied their oral needs and provided
pleasure. Freud further believed that infants will become attached to their mothers “if
the mother is relaxed and generous in her feeding practices, thereby allowing the child
a lot of oral pleasure,” (Shaffer, 1985, p. 435). Was Freud correct in his explanation for
why infants became attached?
Harlow’s Research. In a classic study testing whether feeding was the most
important factor in attachment, Wisconsin University psychologists Harry and
Margaret Harlow investigated the responses of young monkeys. Infant monkeys were
separated from their biological mothers, and two surrogate mothers were introduced
into their cages. One, the wire mother, consisted of a round wooden head, a mesh of
cold metal wires, and a bottle of milk from which the baby monkey could drink. The
second mother was a foam-rubber form wrapped in a heated terry-cloth blanket. The
infant monkeys went to the wire mother for food, but they overwhelmingly preferred
and spent significantly more time with the warm terry-cloth mother. The warm terry-
cloth mother provided no food but did provide comfort (Harlow, 1958). The infant’s
need for physical closeness and touching is referred to as contact comfort. Contact
comfort is believed to be the foundation for attachment. The Harlows’ studies
confirmed that babies have social as well as physical needs. Both monkeys and
human babies need a secure base that allows them to feel safe. From this base, they
can gain the confidence they need to venture out and explore their worlds.
Bowlby’s Theory. Building on the work of ethologists (who study animal
behavior under natural conditions), John Bowlby developed a theory of attachment.
He defined attachment as the affectional bond or tie that an infant forms with the
caregiver (Bowlby, 1969). This bond provides a basis for normal neurophysiological,
social, and emotional development. In addition, Bowlby proposed that this attachment
bond is very powerful and continues throughout life. He used the concept of a secure
base to define a healthy attachment between parent and child (Bowlby, 1982). A
secure base is a parental presence that gives the child a sense of safety as the child
explores the surroundings.
Bowlby said that two things are needed for a healthy attachment: The caregiver
must be responsive to the child’s physical, social, and emotional needs; and the
caregiver and child must engage in mutually enjoyable interactions (Bowlby, 1969).
Additionally, Bowlby observed that infants would go to extraordinary lengths to prevent
separation from their parents, such as crying, refusing to be comforted, and waiting
for the caregiver to return. He observed that these same expressions were common
to many other mammals, and consequently argued that these negative responses to
separation serve an evolutionary function. Because mammalian infants cannot feed or
protect themselves, they are dependent upon the care and protection of adults for
survival. Thus, those infants who were able to maintain proximity to an attachment
figure were more likely to survive and reproduce.
Four Stages of Attachment
Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Technique
Developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth, a student of John Bowlby,
continued studying the development of attachment in infants. Ainsworth and her
colleagues created a laboratory test that measured an infant’s attachment to his or her
parent. The test is called The Strange Situation Technique because it is conducted in
a context that is unfamiliar to the child and therefore likely to heighten the child’s need
for his or her parent (Ainsworth, 1979).
During the procedure, that lasts about 20 minutes, the parent and the infant are first
left alone, while the infant explores the room full of toys. Then a strange adult enters
the room and talks for a minute to the parent, after which the parent leaves the room.
The stranger stays with the infant for a few minutes, and then the parent again enters,
and the stranger leaves the room. During the entire session, a video camera records
the child’s behaviors, which are later coded by trained coders. The investigators were
especially interested in how the child responded to the caregiver leaving and returning
to the room, referred to as the “reunion.” On the basis of their behaviors, the children
are categorized into one of four groups where each group reflects a different kind of
attachment relationship with the caregiver. One style is secure and the other three
styles are referred to as insecure.
•
A child with a secure attachment style usually explores freely while the caregiver
is present and may engage with the stranger. The child will typically play with the
toys and bring one to the caregiver to show and describe from time to time. The
child may be upset when the caregiver departs but is also happy to see the
caregiver return.
•
A child with a resistant (sometimes called ambivalent) attachment style is wary
about the situation in general, particularly the stranger, and stays close or even
clings to the caregiver rather than exploring the toys. When the caregiver leaves,
the child is extremely distressed and is ambivalent when the caregiver returns.
The child may rush to the caregiver, but then fails to be comforted when picked
up. The child may still be angry and even resist attempts to be soothed.
•
A child with an avoidant attachment style will avoid or ignore the mother, showing
little emotion when the mother departs or returns. The child may run away from
the mother when she approaches. The child will not explore very much, regardless
of who is there, and the stranger will not be treated much differently from the
mother.
•
A child with a disorganized/disoriented attachment style seems to have an
inconsistent way of coping with the stress of the strange situation. The child may
cry during the separation, but avoid the mother when she returns, or the child may
approach the mother but then freeze or fall to the floor.
How common are the attachment styles among children in the United States? It
is estimated that about 65 percent of children in the United States are securely
attached. Twenty percent exhibit avoidant styles and 10 to 15 percent are ambivalent.
Another 5 to 10 percent may be characterized as disorganized (Ainsworth, Blehar,
Waters, & Wall, 1978). Some cultural differences in attachment styles have been found
(Rothbaum, Weisz, Pott, Miyake, & Morelli, 2000). For example, German parents
value independence and Japanese mothers are typically by their children’s sides. As
a result, the rate of insecure-avoidant attachments is higher in Germany and insecure-
resistant attachments are higher in Japan. These differences reflect cultural variation
rather than true insecurity, however (van Ijzendoorn and Sagi, 1999). Overall, secure
attachment is the most common type of attachment seen in every culture studied thus
far (Thompson, 2006). Caregiver Interactions and the Formation of Attachment. Most
developmental psychologists argue that a child becomes securely attached when
there is consistent contact from one or more caregivers who meet the physical and
emotional needs of the child in a responsive and appropriate manner. However, even
in cultures where mothers do not talk, cuddle, and play with their infants, secure
attachments can develop (LeVine et. al., 1994).
The insecure resistant (or ambivalent) style occurs when the parent is
insensitive and responds inconsistently to the child’s needs. Consequently, the infant
is never sure that the world is a trustworthy place or that he or she can rely on others
without some anxiety. A caregiver who is unavailable, perhaps because of marital
tension, substance abuse, or preoccupation with work, may send a message to the
infant he or she cannot rely on having needs met. An infant who receives only sporadic
attention when experiencing discomfort may not learn how to calm down. The child
may cry if separated from the caregiver and also cry upon their return. They seek
constant reassurance that never seems to satisfy their doubt. Keep in mind that clingy
behavior can also just be part of a child’s natural disposition or temperament and does
not necessarily reflect some kind of parental neglect. Additionally, a caregiver that
attends to a child’s frustration can help teach them to be calm and to relax.
The insecure avoidant style is marked by insecurity, but this style is also
characterized by a tendency to avoid contact with the caregiver and with others. This
child may have learned that needs typically go unmet and learns that the caregiver
does not provide care and cannot be relied upon for comfort, even sporadically. An
insecure avoidant child learns to be more independent and disengaged.
The insecure disorganized/disoriented style represents the most insecure style
of attachment and occurs when the child is given mixed, confused, and inappropriate
responses from the caregiver. For example, a mother who suffers from schizophrenia
may laugh when a child is hurting or cry when a child exhibits joy. The child does not
learn how to interpret emotions or to connect with the unpredictable caregiver. This
type of attachment is also often seen in children who have been abused. Research
has shown that abuse disrupts a child’s ability to regulate their emotions (Main &
Solomon, 1990). Support for caregivers. Sometimes parents need help in responding
consistently to their infant’s needs. A positive and strong support group can help a
parent and child build a strong foundation by offering assistance and positive attitudes
toward the newborn and parent. In a direct test of this idea, Dutch researcher van den
Boom (1994) randomly assigned some babies’ mothers to a training session in which
they learned to better respond to their children’s needs. The research found that these
mothers’ babies were more likely to show a secure attachment style in comparison to
the mothers in a control group that did not receive training.
Social Deprivation. Severe deprivation of parental attachment can lead to
serious problems. Infants who, perhaps because of being in orphanages with
inadequate care, have not had the opportunity to attach in infancy may still form initial
secure attachments several years later. However, they may have more emotional
problems of depression, anger, or be overly friendly as they interact with others
(O’Connor et. al., 2003). According to studies of children who have not been given
warm, nurturing care, they may show developmental delays, failure to thrive, and
attachment disorders (Bowlby, 1982). Non-organic failure to thrive is the diagnosis for
an infant who does not grow, develop, or gain weight on schedule and there is no
known medical explanation for this failure. Poverty, neglect, inconsistent parenting,
and severe family dysfunction are correlated with non-organic failure to thrive. In
addition, postpartum depression can cause even a well- intentioned mother to neglect
her infant.
Reactive Attachment Disorder: Children who experience social neglect or
deprivation, repeatedly change primary caregivers that limit opportunities to form
stable attachments or are reared in unusual settings (such as institutions) that limit
opportunities to form stable attachments can certainly have difficulty forming
attachments. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
5th edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), those children experiencing
neglectful situations and also displaying markedly disturbed and developmentally
inappropriate attachment behavior, such as being inhibited and withdrawn, minimal
social and emotional responsiveness to others, and limited positive affect, may be
diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder. This disorder often occurs with
developmental delays, especially in cognitive and language areas. Fortunately, the
majority of severely neglected children do not develop reactive attachment disorder,
which occurs in less than 10% of such children. The quality of the caregiving
environment after serious neglect affects the development of this disorder.
Internal Working Models of Attachment
As research accumulated showing the long-term effects of the quality of
attachment between young children and their caregivers, researchers became very
interested in the question of why — as in “Why does attachment at an early age predict
later aspects of social, emotional, and cognitive development?” To answer this
question, they began exploring possible mediating mechanisms, looking for the
pathways through which attachment exerts its effects. Research has uncovered
several mechanisms, including neurophysiological pathways (e.g., children in securely
attached dyads have lower levels of stress reactivity), but among the most interesting
are young children’s (and the later older children’s, adolescents’, and adults’) internal
working models of close relationships (Crittenden, 1999; Dykas & Cassidy, 2011;
Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985). As attachment develops, day-to-day interactions
between infant and caregiver form the basis of the infant’s internal working model –
a set of beliefs and expectations they build about the availability and reliability of their
attachment figures (Sherman, Rice, & Cassidy, 2015). These internal working models
are constructed starting at a very young age, about the age of four months, as soon
as children have the capacity to mentally represent their experiences. It is as if over
the first few years of life infants are “taking mental notes” about how these important
relationships function, and the effects of these expectations can be seen in the ways
infants wait after sending out distress signals to see if their caregiver is on the way or
they need to escalate their communications. The specific, repeated experiences
babies have with their caregivers become more generalized and internalized over
time, indicating whether the attachment figure can be counted on for dependable
comfort and protection in times of distress, and so can serve as a secure base from
which the infant can explore the world. This inner representation then informs what
types of behavior can be expected from others, i.e., whether a person will pick them
up when they are upset or should be turned to for comfort when they are sad.
As children start to interact and form relationships with others, like other family
members, preschool teachers, and peers, their internal working models forms the
basis of their expectations for how people will respond to them, and therefore shape
their own behavior in relationships. Negative experiences with one caregiver may, for
example, create the expectation that people are not to be trusted, and so young
children are less able to be their authentic selves, or reach out to others when they
are upset and need comfort. Because these internal working models influence
children’s behavior, they may shape the quality of their subsequent relationships, all
the way up until adolescence and young adulthood (Allen & Miga, 2010). For example,
adolescents with insecure-resistant internal working models may show ambivalence
about close romantic relationships, both intensely wanting them but also being
resentful about the extent to which their needs are being met (Mikulincer, Shaver, Bar-
On, & Ein-Dor, 2010). Though these inner representations tend to stay somewhat
stable for children with secure attachments, they can continue to grow and change as
children age and gather more social experiences. For example, consistent, warm, and
caring interactions with other attachment figures, such as grandmothers or preschool
teachers, have the power to change those beliefs allowing children to rework a
negative internal working model into a positive one. Internal working models can be
reworked at any age, as children encounter family members, neighbors, teachers or
other adults who provide high quality care. For adolescents, close and caring
friendships can provide opportunities to reconsider and expand their understanding of
relationships. The good news is that, as adults, we can become aware of our own
internal working models of relationships and see how we may be bringing things from
previous relationships into subsequent ones, in ways that are causing us problems.
Then we can intentionally rework our expectations about others in ways that make it
easier for us to form secure relationships with our friends, romantic partners, and
eventually our own children.
