11.2 Attachment

The studies that Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth, 1973; Ainsworth et al., 1978) conducted using the “Strange Situation” were performed first with White American children and their caregivers and later with Black Ugandan families. As described in the main text, they typically classified a secure attachment with a caregiver as one in which a child between the ages of 10 and 18 months can, with their caregiver present, explore a new, strange room independently. These infants will express distress once the caregiver leaves, but they will greet the caregiver with relief and are easily consoled upon their caregiver’s return. Infants with secure attachments go on to have healthy relationships with their peers and are able to regulate their emotions. There are two types of insecure attachment: insecure resistant/ambivalent and insecure avoidant. Insecure-resistant/ambivalent infants cling to their caregivers and do not independently explore their new surroundings. Furthermore, they become very distressed when their caregiver leaves and cannot be consoled when their caregiver returns, sometimes alternating between being clingy and resisting their caregiver’s attempts to calm them down. Insecure-avoidant infants ignore their caregiver when in a strange situation, do not show distress upon their caregiver’s departure, and are indifferent to them when they return. Insecure attachments are associated with poor peer relationships in childhood and poor emotional regulation skills.

Video 11.1. “The Strange Situation – Mary Ainsworth” by thibs44.

Disorganized attachment is a fourth category of infant-caregiver attachment that is observed less frequently. Disorganized attachment is characterized by the observation of contradictory emotions and movement, such as laughter and anxiety, or freezing and apprehension.

Although these associations have been established in children from American and European countries, research in other countries indicates different patterns of caregiver attachment. For instance, on average, 60% of U.S. middle-class children have secure attachments with their caregivers, 9% have insecure-resistant attachments, and 15% have insecure-avoidant attachments (van Ijzendoorn et al., 1999). Studies with Japanese and Korean children have shown different proportions in insecure attachment, with most Japanese and Korean children who have insecure attachments exhibiting insecure-resistant attachments and very few children displaying insecure-avoidant attachment (Takahashi, 1986; Jin et al., 2012). It is unclear if this is due to the cultural invalidity of the Strange Situation or to varying expectations for caregiver-child closeness and responsiveness in Japanese and Korean cultures. Additionally, studies in Mali among the Dogon farmer community found that no children displayed insecure-avoidant attachment, about 8% displayed insecure-resistant attachment, and about 69% displayed secure attachment (True et al., 2001).

Additionally, variations in parenting practices and cultural expectations may contribute to cultural differences in how children respond to being separated from their caregivers. For example, Ugandan children, who are used to staying near their mothers and their home, protest more intensely than American infants when separated from their mothers (Ainsworth & Marvin, 1995). Similarly, although caregiver sensitivity—the sensitive way in which caregivers respond to the needs of their infants—is often associated with secure attachment, how caregiver sensitivity is communicated differs across cultures. For example, non-Western cultures are more likely to respond to an infant’s distress by feeding (True et al., 2001). Caregiver sensitivity is also associated with poverty and lack of resources, as caregivers living in poverty are more likely to be prone to postpartum depression and life stressors, which can interfere with their responsiveness to their infant’s emotional and sustenance needs (Leschied et al., 2005; Sherry et al., 2013). Therefore, although establishing a type of attachment with one’s caregiver may be universal, the ways in which those attachments develop and how they are improved varies across communities and cultures.