Attachment pt2

• Lewis (1344) replicated the verse thieves study with a larger sample of children but did not find that early minal behaviour in youth
• This casts doubt on Bowlby's theory


  As it suggests that other factors may be involved which mediate the consequences of maternal deprivation
• Barrett [1997] found that securely attached children are more resistant to the negative effects of maternal deprivation in comparison to insecurely attached children
• Institutionalisation


  The effects of living in an institutional setting. An institution refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places there is often very tle emotional care provided.
• Rutter and Colleagues (2011) research procedure

  1. Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted by families in the UK to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions

  2. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has beerasused at ages 4, 6, 13, 15 and 22-25 years

  3. A group of 52 children from the UK adopted around the same time have been served as a control group
• Zeanah et al (2005) Bucharest early intervention project procedure

  1. Assessing attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average)

  2. They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution

  3. Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation

  4. In addition carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy. attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (ie. disinhibited attachment)
• Disinhibited attachment


  A type of attachment effect of spending time in an institution. These children are usually friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers. This is highly unusual behaviour-remember that in their second year should show stranger anxiety.
• Rutter (2006) explanation of disinhibited attachment


  An adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation (Shaffer's stages of attachment and Bowby's critical period) in poor quality institutions, e those in Romania, add might have 50 carers but don't spend enough time with any one of them to be able to form a secure attachment
• Damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months-the age at which attachments form
• Much has been learned from the Romanian orphan studies that might benefit future institutionalised or potentially institutionalised children
• Internal working model


  A mental representation of the child's first relationship with their primary attachment figure, which acts as a template for future relationships
• Quality of child's first attachment

  • Crucial, as it powerfully affects the nature of their future relationships
  • A baby with a loving first relationship will assume this is how relationships are meant to be, and seek out functional relationships
  • A baby with bad first attachment experiences will bring these to bear on later relationships, struggling to form relationships or behaving inappropriately
• Attachment type


  Associated with quality of peer relationships in childhood
• Attachment types and bullying involvement

  • Secure children very unlikely to be involved in bullying
  • Insecure-avoidant children most likely to be victims
  • Insecure-resistant children most likely to be bullies
• Internal working models


  Affect two major adult experiences: romantic relationships and parental relationships with own children
• Study 1: Romantic relationships and attachment


  1. Assessed respondent's current/most important relationship

  2. Assessed general love experiences

  3. Assessed attachment type
• Securely attached respondents had the best and longest romantic experiences, while avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy or fear of intimacy
• Study 2: Romantic relationships, friendships and attachment

  1. Securely attached babies had the best adult romantic relationships and friendships

  2. Insecure-resistant babies had particular problems maintaining friendships

  3. Insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships
• Internal working models affect the child's ability to parent their own children, as parenting style tends to be passed on through generations
• The majority of mothers had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers
• Strengths of research into attachment and later relationships

  • Supporting evidence shows early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children
  • Secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development, while disorganised attachment seriously disadvantages children
• Not all evidence supports close links between early attachment and later development, as the Regensburg longitudinal study found no evidence of continuity between attachment at 1 year and 16 years
• Most research on the link between early attachment and later development assesses attachment retrospectively, which causes validity problems
• Associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables like parenting style or genetically influenced personality