Stages of Attachment

• Stages of Attachment


  1. The asocial stage (first few weeks)

  2. Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)

  3. Specific attachment (around 7 months)

  4. Multiple attachments (shortly after stage 3)
• The asocial stage


  The first stage is called the social stage for pre-attachment. Babies in the first few weeks of life recognise and start to form a bond with its mother, but their behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is quite similar
• Indiscriminate attachment stage


  • Babies display more observable social behaviour, show a preference for people rather than inanimate objects, recognise and prefer familiar adults, accept cuddles and comfort from any adult, do not show separation or stranger anxiety
• Specific attachment stage


  • Babies start to display anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from one particular adult (the biological mother in 65% of cases), show joy at reunion with that particular adult, are most comforted by them
• Primary attachment figure


  The adult the baby has formed a specific attachment to, not necessarily the person the child spends most time with, but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby's signals with the most sensitivity and skill
• Multiple attachments stage


  • Babies extend attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with other adults with whom they regularly spend time, these are called secondary attachments, by 1 year the majority of infants have developed multiple attachments
• In Schaffer and Emerson's study, 29% of the children had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment