Editing Attachment theory (section)

==Attachment==
[[Image:Mozambique024.jpg|thumb|alt=A young mother smiles up at the camera. On her back is her baby gazing at the camera with an expression of lively interest.|right|Although it is usual for the mother to be the primary attachment figure, infants will form attachments to any carer who is sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them.]]

Within attachment theory, ''attachment'' means an [[affectional bond]] or tie between an individual and an attachment figure (usually a caregiver/guardian). Such bonds may be reciprocal between two adults, but between a child and a caregiver, these bonds are based on the child's need for safety, security, and protection—which is most important in infancy and childhood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Anne |last2=Steele |first2=Miriam |last3=Dube |first3=Shanta Rishi |last4=Bate |first4=Jordan |last5=Bonuck |first5=Karen |last6=Meissner |first6=Paul |last7=Goldman |first7=Hannah |last8=Steele |first8=Howard |date=2014 |title=Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI): Implications for parent child relationships |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0145213413002561 |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |language=en |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=224–233 |doi=10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.09.004|pmid=24670331 |s2cid=3919568 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Attachment theory is not an exhaustive description of human relationships, nor is it synonymous with love and affection, although these may indicate that bonds exist. In child-to-adult relationships, the child's tie is called the "attachment" and the caregiver's reciprocal equivalent is referred to as the "care-giving bond".<ref name=pg15>[[#PriorGlaser06|Prior and Glaser]] p. 15.</ref> The theory proposes that children attach to carers instinctively,<ref name="BrethQuote">{{cite news|author=Bretherton I|title=The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth|year=1992|quote=[Bowlby] begin by noting that organisms at different levels of the phylogenetic scale regulate instinctive behaviour in distinct ways, ranging from primitive reflex-like "fixed action patterns" to complex plan hierarchies with subgoals and strong learning components. In the most complex organisms, instinctive behaviours may be "goal-corrected" with continual on-course adjustments (such as a bird of prey adjusting its flight to the movements of the prey). The concept of cybernetically controlled behavioural systems organized as plan hierarchies (Miller, Galanter, and Pribram, 1960) thus came to replace Freud's concept of drive and instinct. Such systems regulate behaviours in ways that need not be rigidly innate, but – depending on the organism – can adapt in greater or lesser degrees to changes in environmental circumstances, provided that these do not deviate too much from the organism's environment of evolutionary adaptedness. Such flexible organisms pay a price, however, because adaptable behavioural systems can more easily be subverted from their optimal path of development. For humans, Bowlby speculates, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness probably resembles that of present-day hunter-gatherer societies.}}</ref> for the purpose of survival and, ultimately, genetic replication.<ref name=pg15/> The biological aim is survival and the psychological aim is security.<ref name="Schaffer"/> The relationship that a child has with their attachment figure is especially important in threatening situations. Having access to a secure figure decreases fear in children when they are presented with threatening situations. Not only is having a decreased level of fear important for general mental stability, but it also implicates how children might react to threatening situations. The presence of a supportive attachment figure is especially important in a child's developmental years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stupica |first1=Brandi |last2=Brett |first2=Bonnie E. |last3=Woodhouse |first3=Susan S. |last4=Cassidy |first4=Jude |date=July 2019 |title=Attachment Security Priming Decreases Children's Physiological Response to Threat |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.13009 |journal=Child Development |language=en |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=1254–1271 |doi=10.1111/cdev.13009|pmid=29266177 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In addition to support, attunement (accurate understanding and emotional connection) is crucial in a caregiver-child relationship. If the caregiver is poorly attuned to the child, the child may grow to feel misunderstood and anxious.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-04 |title=Attunement |url=https://www.evolveinnature.com/blog/2023/3/7-attunement-the-real-language-of-love |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=Evolve In Nature |language=en-US}}</ref>

Infants form attachments to ''any'' consistent caregiver who is sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them. The quality of social engagement is more influential than the amount of time spent. The biological mother is the usual principal attachment figure, but the role can be assumed by anyone who consistently behaves in a "mothering" way over a period of time. Within attachment theory, this means a set of behaviours that involves engaging in lively social interaction with the infant and responding readily to signals and approaches.<ref>Bowlby (1969) p. 365.</ref> Nothing in the theory suggests that fathers are not equally likely to become principal attachment figures if they provide most of the child care and related social interaction.<ref>[[#Holmes93|Holmes]] p. 69.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Cosentino|first=Ashley|date=5 September 2017|title=Viewing fathers as attachment figures|url=https://ct.counseling.org/2017/09/viewing-fathers-attachment-f%E2%80%8A%E2%80%8A%E2%80%8Aigures/|url-status=live|website=Counseling today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924022707/http://ct.counseling.org:80/2017/09/viewing-fathers-attachment-f%E2%80%8A%E2%80%8A%E2%80%8Aigures/ |archive-date=2017-09-24 }}</ref> A secure attachment to a father who is a "secondary attachment figure" may also counter the possible negative effects of an unsatisfactory attachment to a mother who is the primary attachment figure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lamb |first1=Michael E. |last2=Lamb |first2=Jamie E. |date=1976 |title=The Nature and Importance of the Father-Infant Relationship |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/582850 |journal=The Family Coordinator |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=379–385 |doi=10.2307/582850 |jstor=582850 |issn=0014-7214|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Some infants direct attachment behaviour (proximity seeking) towards more than one attachment figure almost as soon as they start to show discrimination between caregivers; most come to do so during their second year. These figures are arranged hierarchically, with the principal attachment figure at the top.<ref>Bowlby (1969) 2nd ed. pp. 304–05.</ref> The set-goal of the attachment behavioural system is to maintain a bond with an accessible and available attachment figure.<ref name=kobmad>{{cite encyclopedia|author= Kobak R, Madsen S|year=2008|title= Disruption in Attachment Bonds|encyclopedia=Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications| veditors = Cassidy J, Shaver PR | publisher= Guilford Press|location= New York and London|pages=23–47|isbn=978-1-59385-874-2}}</ref> "Alarm" is the term used for activation of the attachment behavioural system caused by fear of danger. "Anxiety" is the anticipation or fear of being cut off from the attachment figure. If the figure is unavailable or unresponsive, separation distress occurs.<ref name="pg16">[[#PriorGlaser06|Prior and Glaser]] p. 16.</ref> In infants, physical separation can cause anxiety and anger, followed by sadness and despair. By age three or four, physical separation is no longer such a threat to the child's bond with the attachment figure. Threats to security in older children and adults arise from prolonged absence, breakdowns in communication, emotional unavailability or signs of rejection or abandonment.<ref name=kobmad/>

===Behaviours===
[[File:Kaitlyn reads a book..jpg|thumb|right|alt=A baby leans at a table staring at a picture book with intense concentration.| Insecure attachment patterns can compromise exploration and the achievement of self-confidence. A securely attached baby is free to concentrate on their environment.]]

The attachment behavioural system serves to achieve or maintain proximity to the attachment figure.{{sfn|Prior|Glaser|2006|p=17}}

Pre-attachment behaviours occur in the first six months of life. During the first phase (the first two months), infants smile, babble, and cry to attract the attention of potential caregivers. Although infants of this age learn to discriminate between caregivers, these behaviours are directed at anyone in the vicinity.

During the second phase (two to six months), the infant discriminates between familiar and unfamiliar adults, becoming more responsive toward the caregiver; following and clinging are added to the range of behaviours. The infant's behaviour toward the caregiver becomes organized on a goal-directed basis to achieve the conditions that make it feel secure.{{sfn|Prior|Glaser|2006|p=19}}

By the end of the first year, the infant is able to display a range of attachment behaviours designed to maintain proximity. These manifest as protesting the caregiver's departure, greeting the caregiver's return, clinging when frightened, and following when able.{{sfn|Karen|1998|pp=90–92}}

With the development of locomotion, the infant begins to use the caregiver or caregivers as a "safe base" from which to explore.{{sfn|Prior|Glaser|2006|p=19}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Disorders of childhood : development and psychopathology | first1 = Robin Hornik | last1 = Parritz | first2 = Michael F | last2 = Troy |date=2017-05-24 |isbn=978-1-337-09811-3 |edition=Third |location=Boston, MA |oclc=960031712}}</ref>{{Rp|71}} Infant exploration is greater when the caregiver is present because the infant's attachment system is relaxed and it is free to explore. If the caregiver is inaccessible or unresponsive, attachment behaviour is more strongly exhibited.<ref name="ainsworth 67">{{cite book |title=Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love | vauthors = Ainsworth M |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-8018-0010-8 |location=Baltimore}}</ref> Anxiety, fear, illness, and fatigue will cause a child to increase attachment behaviours.{{sfn|Karen|1998|p=97}}

After the second year, as the child begins to see the caregiver as an independent person, a more complex and goal-corrected partnership is formed.{{sfn|Prior|Glaser|2006|pp=19–20}} Children begin to notice others' goals and feelings and plan their actions accordingly.

{{for-text|coverage of this topic in [[Wolves]]|[[Attachment behaviour in wolves]]}}

===Tenets===
Modern attachment theory is based on three principles:<ref name=":9">{{cite book |title=Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples and Families |last=Johnson |first=Susan M. |publisher=The Guildford Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4625-3828-7 |location=New York |pages=5}}</ref>  
# Bonding is an intrinsic human need. 
# Regulation of emotion and fear to enhance vitality.
# Promoting adaptiveness and growth. 
Common attachment behaviours and emotions, displayed in most social primates including humans, are [[Adaption|adaptive]]. The long-term evolution of these species has involved selection for social behaviours that make individual or group survival more likely. The commonly observed attachment behaviour of toddlers staying near familiar people would have had safety advantages in the environment of early adaptation and has similar advantages today. Bowlby saw the environment of early adaptation as similar to current [[hunter-gatherer]] societies.{{sfn|Bowlby|1971|p=300}} There is a survival advantage in the capacity to sense possibly dangerous conditions such as unfamiliarity, being alone, or rapid approach. According to Bowlby, proximity-seeking to the attachment figure in the face of threat is the "set-goal" of the attachment behavioural system.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowlby|first=John|url=https://mindsplain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ATTACHMENT_AND_LOSS_VOLUME_I_ATTACHMENT.pdf|title=Attachment and loss|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|year=1969–1982|pages=11|language=English}}</ref>

Bowlby's original account of a [[Critical period|sensitivity period]] during which attachments can form of between six months and two to three years has been modified by later researchers. These researchers have shown there is indeed a sensitive period during which attachments will form if possible, but the time frame is broader and the effect less fixed and irreversible than first proposed.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLeod|first=Saul|date=5 February 2017|title=Bowlby's Attachment Theory|url=https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html|website=[[Simply Psychology]]}}</ref>

With further research, authors discussing attachment theory have come to appreciate social development is affected by later as well as earlier relationships. Early steps in attachment take place most easily if the infant has one caregiver, or the occasional care of a small number of other people. According to Bowlby, almost from the beginning, many children have more than one figure toward whom they direct attachment behaviour. These figures are not treated alike; there is a strong bias for a child to direct attachment behaviour mainly toward one particular person. Bowlby used the term "monotropy" to describe this bias.{{sfn|Bowlby|1982|p=309}} Researchers and theorists have abandoned this concept insofar as it may be taken to mean the relationship with the special figure differs ''qualitatively'' from that of other figures. Rather, current thinking postulates definite hierarchies of relationships.<ref name="Rutter 95">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rutter M | title = Clinical implications of attachment concepts: retrospect and prospect | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-child-psychology-and-psychiatry-and-allied-disciplines_1995-05_36_4/page/549 | journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines | volume = 36 | issue = 4 | pages = 549–71 | date = May 1995 | pmid = 7650083 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb02314.x }}</ref><ref name="Main">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1999 |title=Epilogue: Attachment Theory: Eighteen Points with Suggestions for Future Studies |encyclopedia=Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York |url= https://archive.org/details/handbookofattach0000unse/page/845 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofattach0000unse/page/845 845–87] |isbn=978-1-57230-087-3 |quote=although there is general agreement an infant or adult will have only a few attachment figures at most, many attachment theorists and researchers believe infants form 'attachment hierarchies' in which some figures are primary, others secondary, and so on. This position can be presented in a stronger form, in which a particular figure is believed continually to take top place ("monotropy")&nbsp;... questions surrounding monotropy and attachment hierarchies remain unsettled |author=Main M |veditors=Cassidy J, Shaver PR}}</ref>

Early experiences with caregivers gradually give rise to a system of thoughts, memories, beliefs, expectations, emotions, and behaviours about the self and others. This system, called the "internal working model of social relationships", continues to develop with time and experience.{{sfn|Mercer|2006|pp=39–40}}

Internal models regulate, interpret, and predict attachment-related behaviour in the self and the attachment figure. As they develop in line with environmental and developmental changes, they incorporate the capacity to reflect and communicate about past and future attachment relationships.<ref name="Bretherton/Mul"/> They enable the child to handle new types of social interactions; knowing, for example, an infant should be treated differently from an older child, or that interactions with teachers and parents share characteristics. Even interaction with coaches share similar characteristics, as athletes who secure attachment relationships with not only their parents but their coaches will play a role in the growth of athletes in their prospective sport.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Louise |last2=Brown |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Arnold |first3=Rachel |last4=Gustafsson |first4=Henrik |date=2021-08-02 |title=Thriving Through Relationships in Sport: The Role of the Parent–Athlete and Coach–Athlete Attachment Relationship |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=12 |pages=694599 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694599 |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=8366224 |pmid=34408711|doi-access=free }}</ref> This internal working model continues to develop through adulthood, helping cope with friendships, marriage, and parenthood, all of which involve different behaviours and feelings.<ref name="Bowlby 73">{{cite book |title=Separation: Anger and Anxiety | vauthors = Bowlby J |publisher=Hogarth |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-7126-6621-3 |series=Attachment and loss. Vol. 2 |location=London}}</ref>{{sfn|Mercer|2006|pp=39–40}}

The development of attachment is a transactional process. Specific attachment behaviours begin with predictable, apparently innate, behaviours in infancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pilkington |first1=Pamela D. |last2=Bishop |first2=Amy |last3=Younan |first3=Rita |date=2021 |title=Adverse childhood experiences and early maladaptive schemas in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.2533 |journal=Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy |language=en |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=569–584 |doi=10.1002/cpp.2533 |pmid=33270299 |s2cid=227258822 |issn=1063-3995|url-access=subscription }}</ref> They change with age in ways determined partly by experiences and partly by situational factors.{{sfn|Bowlby|1971|pp=414–21}} As attachment behaviours change with age, they do so in ways shaped by relationships. A child's behaviour when reunited with a caregiver is determined not only by how the caregiver has treated the child before, but on the history of effects the child has had on the caregiver.{{sfn|Bowlby|1971|pp=394–395}}<ref name="ainsworth 69">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ainsworth MD | title = Object relations, dependency, and attachment: a theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_child-development_1969-12_40_4/page/969 | journal = Child Development | volume = 40 | issue = 4 | pages = 969–1025 | date = December 1969 | pmid = 5360395 | doi = 10.2307/1127008 | jstor = 1127008 }}</ref>

=== Cultural differences ===
In Western culture child-rearing, there is a focus on single attachment to primarily the mother. This dyadic model is not the only strategy of attachment producing a secure and emotionally adept child. Having a single, dependably responsive and sensitive caregiver (namely the mother) does not guarantee the ultimate success of the child. Results from Israeli, Dutch and east African studies show children with multiple caregivers grow up not only feeling secure, but developed "more enhanced capacities to view the world from multiple perspectives."<ref name=":12">{{cite book |title=Mothers and Others-The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding |url=https://archive.org/details/mothersothersevo0000hrdy |last=Hrdy |first=Sarah Blaffer |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03299-6 |location=United States of America |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mothersothersevo0000hrdy/page/130 130], 131, 132}}</ref> This evidence can be more readily found in hunter-gatherer communities, like those that exist in rural Tanzania.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Crittenden|first1=Alyssa N.|title=Cooperative Child Care among the Hadza: Situating Multiple Attachment in Evolutionary Context|date=2013|work=Attachment Reconsidered|pages=67–83|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|isbn=978-1-137-38674-8|last2=Marlowe|first2=Frank W.|doi=10.1057/9781137386724_3}}</ref>

In hunter-gatherer communities, in the past and present, mothers are the primary caregivers, but share the maternal responsibility of ensuring the child's survival with a variety of different [[Allomothering|allomothers]]. So while the mother is important, she is not the only opportunity for relational attachment a child can make. Several group members (with or without blood relation) contribute to the task of bringing up a child, sharing the parenting role and therefore can be sources of multiple attachment. There is evidence of this communal parenting throughout history that "would have significant implications for the evolution of multiple attachment."<ref>{{cite book |title=Attachment Reconsidered: Cultural Perspectives on a Western Theory |last1=Quinn |first1=Naomi |last2=Mageo |first2=Jeannette Marie |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-137-38672-4 |location=United States of America |pages=73, 74}}</ref>

In "non-metropolis" India {{clarify span|text=(where "dual income nuclear families" are more the norm and dyadic mother relationship is)|
explain=dyadic mother relationship is... what? is "and" supposed to be "than"?|date=July 2023}}, where a family normally consists of 3 generations (and sometimes 4: great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and child or children), the child or children would have four to six caregivers from whom to select their "attachment figure". A child's "uncles and aunts" (parents' siblings and their spouses) also contribute to the child's psycho-social enrichment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parens |first=Henri |date=1995 |title=Parenting for Emotional Growth: Lines of Development |url=https://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1003&context=parentingemotionalgrowth |access-date=March 14, 2024 |website=Thomas Jefferson University-Jefferson Digital Commons}}</ref>

Although it has been debated for years, and there are differences across cultures, research has shown that the three basic aspects of attachment theory are, to some degree, universal.<ref name="IJzendoorn MH 2008. pp. 880">{{cite book | vauthors = Van Ijzendoorn MH, Sagi-Schwartz A | chapter = Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. | veditors = Cassidy J, Shaver PR | title = Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. | url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofattach0000unse_n9k8 | edition = 2nd | location = New York, NY | publisher = Guilford Press | date = 2008 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/handbookofattach0000unse_n9k8/page/880 880]–905 }}</ref> Studies in Israel and Japan resulted in findings which diverge from a number of studies completed in Western Europe and the United States.  The prevailing hypotheses are: 1) that secure attachment is the most desirable state, and the most prevalent; 2) maternal sensitivity influences infant attachment patterns; and 3) specific infant attachments predict later social and cognitive competence.<ref name="IJzendoorn MH 2008. pp. 880" />