how do we measure attachment? ◦ attachment q-sort ◦ adult attachment interview (aai) why do...
TRANSCRIPT
How do we measure attachment?◦Attachment Q-sort◦Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Why do early relationships matter?
Implications for Childhood and Adulthood
Interventions
Outline Part II
90 Behaviors observed at home or other naturalistic settings
Forced choice procedure – 9 piles of 10 cards. ◦Least like – to most like the child
Scoring: reflects how similar the child is to a hypothetical securely attached child
Attachment Qsort
AQS Security Score = correlation b/w participant’s sort of his/her child and expert sort of prototypical secure child
Attachment Qsort
Works for broader age range (12-48 months)
Conducted in home = ecological validity
Does not induce stress on childApplicable to cultures in which (1)
parent-infant separation is uncommon and/or (2) prototypical secure child looks different
Attachment Qsort Advantages
Used with adolescents and adults Questioned about early child relationship with parents Example Questions:
◦ I’d like you to describe your relationships with your parents as a young child if you could start from as far back as you remember?
◦ Choose 5 adjectives that reflect your relationship with your mother from age 5 - 12
Classified as ◦ Secure◦ Avoidant/dismissing◦ Resistant/preoccupied◦ Unresolved/disoriented
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Adult Attachment Style of Parents Description
Autonomous/SecureDiscuss past in consistent and coherent manner. Recall both positive and negative aspects
Dismissing
Cannot recall parental interactions or minimize impact of parents on their development
Resistant/Preoccupied
Intensely focused on parents. Give confused and angry accounts or attachment experiences.
Unresolved/DisorganizedPast traumatic experiences of loss or abuse. Descriptions may lack reasoning or sense.
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
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Autonomous/SecureDismissingResistant/PreoccupiedUnresolved/Disor-ganized
Infant Attachment Style
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So Why do Early Attachment Relationships Matter?
4 Infant Attachment
Styles
4 Adult Attachment
Styles
Cognitive representations of themselves and other people – that are used to interpret events and form expectations about close relationships
Responsive caregiving should lead the child to conclude that people are dependable (positive IWM of other) and I am lovable (positive IWM of oneself)
Internal Working Models (IWM)
Low Avoidance
High Anxiety
Low Anxiety
High Avoidance
SECURE
FEARFUL-AVOIDANT
DISMISSING-AVOIDANT
PREOCCUPIED
“I am worthy of love and support.”
“I am worried that I love my partner more
than he/she loves me.”
“I don’t want to be too close to my
partner. I value my independence.”
“I want to be close to my partner, but I am afraid that he/she will
reject me.”
Think of a celebrity who fits each attachment style.
**New Slide
Low Avoidance
High Anxiety
Low Anxiety
High Avoidance
SECURE
FEARFUL-AVOIDANT
DISMISSING-AVOIDANT
PREOCCUPIED
“I am worthy of love and support.”
“I am worried that I love my partner more
than he/she loves me.”
“I don’t want to be too close to my
partner. I value my independence.”
“I want to be close to my partner, but I am afraid that he/she will
reject me.”
Match the infant attachment styles to the adult attachment styles!
Low Avoidance
High Anxiety
Low Anxiety
High Avoidance
SECURE
FEARFUL-AVOIDANT
DISMISSING-AVOIDANT
PREOCCUPIED
“I am worthy of love and support.”
“I am worried that I love my partner more
than he/she loves me.”
“I don’t want to be too close to my
partner. I value my independence.”
“I want to be close to my partner, but I am afraid that he/she will
reject me.”
SECURE!
DISORGANIZED!INSECURE-
AVOIDANT!
INSECURE-RESISTANT!
Children with secure attachments…◦ Exhibit more complex exploratory behavior
◦ Are more interested, persistent, and effective when solving a problem
◦ Display less frustration and less crying and whining
◦ Engage in more symbolic and pretend play
◦ Display more advanced cognitive abilities at age 7
◦ Are more attentive in the classroom and had higher grades at ages 9, 12, and 15
Implications for Exploration and Cognitive Development
Due to differences in their internal working models: Securely attached children
are biased to remember positive experiences
Insecurely attached children to remember negative experiences.
(Based on means in Table 1, p. 113, in J. Belsky et al., “Infant Attachment Security and Affective-Cognitive Information Processing at Age 3.” Psychological Science, 7, 1996, 111-114).
There are Biases for Remembering Emotional Events based on IWM’s
Based on research by Sroufe, compared with insecurely attached children, securely attached children…
◦ Were rated by teachers as more emotionally positive, more empathic, and more socially competent at ages 4-5
◦ Whined less, were less aggressive, and displayed fewer negative reactions when other children approached them
◦ Had more friends and were considered more popular by classmates
◦ Continued to be rated as more socially competent when they 8 and 12 years old
◦ Were more likely to develop close friendships with peers and form friendships with other securely attached children
Implications for Social Development
Average levels of social responsiveness and emotional conflict shown by toddlers who were either securely or insecurely attached to their mothers and fathers. (Adapted from Main & Weston, 1981).
What does this pattern of results
suggest?
Rejection Sensitivity:◦Tendency to anxiously anticipate,
readily perceive, and emotionally and behaviorally overreact to rejection from significant others
Self-protective response to early parental rejection
Implications for Adulthood
Consequences of High Rejection Sensitivity
• Primed to perceive rejection in behavior of others
• Less satisfied with RR and family relationships• More likely to be in unstable partnerships• If relationship contains 1 rejection sensitive
partner, more likely to lead to break-up 1 year later
• Magnifies partner’s dissatisfaction and lack of commitment
• Positive correlation btwn. rejection sensitivity and self-silencing (self-silencing leads to depression)
Coherent accounts of childhood experiences (secure) relative to insecure:◦Engage in higher quality interactions with
romantic partners concurrently and 1 year later◦Describe relationships as more positive
Insecurity associated with greater electrodermal reactivity during conflict resolution discussions (suggests preparation of Sympathetic nervous system to respond to a threat or challenge)
Implications for Adulthood
In RR, Secure Adults show◦Higher satisfaction, trust, intimacy, love,
and commitment with romantic partner◦Lower levels of conflict, interpersonal
difficulty, negative affect◦More effective communication and
problem-solving strategies
Implications for Adulthood
72% of children who were classified as secure in infancy were secure 20 years later
More likely to change from insecure to secure◦ In one study, 42% of children who were insecure at 1
year were secure at 4 years.
Change/stability tends to depend on stability of parenting and environment
So, can we even change attachment style?
Stability of Attachment
Synchrony
Circle of Security
Steps Towards Effective Enjoyable Parenting™ (STEEP) and Seeing is Believing Training
Meta-analysis on interventions (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2003)
◦ 85 studies testing several types of interventions◦ Increasing parental sensitivity changes infant
attachment style
Attachment Style Interventions
SummaryInfant attachment styles are
◦Correlated with parent attachment styles
◦Associated with developmental outcomes
◦Stable into adulthoodSeveral measures and interventions
existParental sensitivity is currently the
best intervention