early attachment and types

• Bailey et Al 2007

  observe 99 mothers and record attachment type according to strange situation procedure

  insecure attachment children had parents with the same relationship with their parents

  initial attachment affects later parenthood
• Hazan and Shaver 1978

  used self report questionnaire known as love quiz

  620 responses, 14-82 years, 42% married 31% dating

  positive correlation between early attachment type and later adult relationship

  56% secure= long lasting and romantic

  25% avoidant= jealous and fear intimacy

  19% resistant= difficult
• Ainsworth strange situation

  structured observation to assess type and quality of attachment in 14 month old infants

  criteria of separation/stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour, proximity seeking and willingness to explore
• stages of strange situation

  1. mother and child enter playroom, encourage child to explore
  2. stranger enters and tries to interact, mother leaves
  3. stranger leaves and mother returns
  4. mother leaves and stranger returns
  5. mother returns and interacts with child
• Insecure avoidant attachment type

  low stranger and separation anxiety

  little response on reunion
• insecure resistant attachment type

  high stranger and separation anxiety

  resist comfort on reunion
• secure attachment type

  moderate stranger and separation anxiety

  joy on reunion
• Ainsworth strange situation findings

  70% secure

  15% avoidant

  15% resistant

  most US children securely attached
• Strange situation Ainsworth evaluation

  high interobserver reliability and operationalised due to criteria

  low population validity as 100 middle class Americans

  categories not always applicable, Maine and Cassidy 1988 discovered disorganised attachment type

  culturally biased, Eurocentric, imposed etic
• Cultural bias strange situation

  procedure reflects american values and uses western methodology so is eurocentric

  japanese infants will have high separation anxiety as they are not used to being left alone, not because they are resistant
• strange situation has imposed etic

  looks at behaviours from outside given culture, attempts to describe universiality of specific behaviours
• Van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg 1988 meta analysis

  summarised strange situation findings from 8 countries

  UK, US, Sweden, Japan, China, Holland, Germany, Israel

  examined 32 studies, 15 in America

  2000 strange situation classification
• Van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg results

  secure is 65%, avoidant is 21%, resistant is 14%

  6/8 countries had similar findings to Ainsworth

  Japan and Israel had more resistant than avoidant as collectivists

  Germany had more avoidants as they value independence

  chinese had the least secure
• Van ijzendoorn and kroonenburg evaluation

  meta analysis so more valid/reliable

  larger sample so more generalisable

  reductionist

  socially sensitive

  secondary research, confounding variables of room size

  imposed etic
• simonella et al 2014

  study to see pattern of proportion of attachment types in Italy

  76 12 month olds assessed using strange situation

  50% secure 31% avoidant

  due to mums working more and using childcare, dramatic change
• Takashi 1990

  replicated strange situation with 60 middle class japanese infants and mothers using same standardised procedures and behavioural categories

  0% avoidant 32% resistant 68% secure
• Myron Wilson and smith 1988

  196 children aged 7-11 do questionnaire for attachment

  secure= no involvement in bullying

  resistant= bully

  avoidant= victim
• Hazan and Shaver evaluation

  large sample size so population validity

  practical applications

  supported by bowlby, waters et al and simpson et al

  deterministic

  social desirability bias

  82 year olds recall past, retrospective data innaccurate
• waters et al longitudinal study

  did adult attachment interview with young adults who did strange situation 20 years ago

  72% had same classification
• simpson et al 2007

  securely attached infant have higher social competency rating as child

  closer to friends in teen years

  more emotionally attached to partners in early adulthood