User:Crequijo18/Developmental psychology

Attachment Theory
Attachment theory, originally developed by John Bowlby, focuses on the importance of open, intimate, emotionally meaningful relationships. Attachment is described as a biological system or powerful survival impulse that evolved to ensure the survival of the infant. A child who is threatened or stressed will move toward caregivers who create a sense of physical, emotional and psychological safety for the individual. Attachment feeds on body contact and familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation protocol and the concept of the secure base.

'This tool has been found to help in the understanding and surveillance of attachment such as the Strange Situation Test and the Adult Attachment Interview. Both of which, help determine factors to certain attachment styles. The Strange Situation Test help find "disturbances in attachment" and whether certain attributes are found to contribute to a certain attachment issue. The Adult Attachment Interview is a tool that is similar to the Strange Situation Test but instead focuses attachment issues found in adults. Both tests have helped many researchers gain more information on the risks and how to identify them. '

Theorists have proposed four types of attachment styles: secure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-resistant, and disorganized. Secure attachment is a healthy attachment between the infant and the caregiver. It is characterized by trust. Anxious-avoidant is an insecure attachment between an infant and a caregiver. This is characterized by the infant's indifference toward the caregiver. Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachment between the infant and the caregiver characterized by distress from the infant when separated and anger when reunited. Disorganized is an attachment style without a consistent pattern of responses upon return of the parent.

A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to form attachments. Some babies are raised without the stimulation and attention of a regular caregiver or locked away under conditions of abuse or extreme neglect. The possible short-term effects of this deprivation are anger, despair, detachment, and temporary delay in intellectual development. Long-term effects include increased aggression, clinging behavior, detachment, psychosomatic disorders, and an increased risk of depression as an adult.[page needed][page needed]

Attachment is established in early childhood and attachment continues into adulthood. When involved in intimate relationships the way adults are able to handle relationship issues depends on their attachment styles that were formed during their childhood. An example of secure attachment continuing in adulthood would be when the person feels confident and is able to meet their own needs. Having a secure attachment allows the adult to have a healthy trusting relationship. An example of anxious attachment during adulthood is when the adult chooses a partner with anxious-avoidant attachment. Having an anxious/ ambivalent attachment style can affect an adult’s trust issues in a committed relationship. Therefore, by understanding what attachment style an individual formed with their caregiver when they were children, we can better understand their interpersonal relationships as adults.