Attachment
Attachment
Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff
Attachment is the emotional bond that forms between infant and caregiver, and it is how the helpless infant gets primary needs met. It then becomes an engine of subsequent social, emotional, and cognitive development. An infant's early social experience stimulates the growth of the brain and can influence the formation of stable relationships with others.
Attachment provides the infant's first coping system; it sets up a mental representation of the caregiver in an infant's mind, which can be summoned as a comforting mental presence in difficult moments. Attachment allows an infant to separate from the caregiver without distress and explore the world around her.
Neuroscientists believe that attachment is such a primal need that there are networks of neurons in the brain dedicated to setting it in motion in the first place and a hormone—oxytocin—that fosters the process.
Attachment styles are not immutable, they can change substantially over time, research suggests, and may differ from relationship to relationship. Enduring a terrible relationship might lead to a less secure attachment orientation; a history of supportive relationships may lead to increased security. Therapy—providing a safe connection and an opportunity to learn relational skills—may also be helpful.
Attachment in Early Life
Attachment develops through everyday interactions as a caregiver attends to an infant's needs. The bond between infant and caregiver is usually so well established before the end of the first year of life that it is possible to test the nature and quality of the bond at that time.
As a result of their work with many child-caregiver pairs, researchers have described several basic patterns of attachment. In their studies, researchers briefly separate young children from their caregiver and observe their behavior before and after they are reunited with the caregiver.
- Children with a secure attachment may be distressed upon separation but warmly welcome the caregiver back through eye contact and hug-seeking.
- Anxious-resistant attachment describes a child who is frightened by separation and continues to display anxious behavior once the caregiver returns.
- Avoidant attachment denotes a child who reacts fairly calmly to a parent's separation and does not embrace their return.
- Disorganized attachment is manifest in odd or ambivalent behavior toward a caregiver upon return—approaching then turning away from or even hitting the caregiver—and may be the result of childhood trauma.
A majority of children tend to show "secure" attachment behavior in studies, while others seem "insecure," showing one of the other patterns.
How does secure attachment develop?
Secure attachment in children has been theorized to result from sensitive, responsive caregiving, and insecurity from its lack. While there is evidence that parenting can influence attachment security, it's also clear that other factors—including genetics—play a formative role.
What is attachment theory?
British psychoanalyst John Bowlby proposed that children's attachment behaviors (such as showing distress at a parent's absence) are part of an evolved behavioral system that helps ensure they are cared for. Psychologist Mary Ainsworth later began to experimentally study variations in how children respond to separation from parents. Others have expanded attachment theory to adult relationships.
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