Lifespan Development. Tara L. Kuther

       Phase 2: Early Attachments—Discriminating Sociability (2 Through 6–7 Months): When caregivers are sensitive and consistent in responding to babies’ signals, babies learn to associate their caregivers with the relief of distress, forming the basis for an initial bond. Babies begin to discriminate among adults and prefer familiar people. They direct their responses toward a particular adult or adults who are best able to soothe them.

       Phase 3: Attachments (7–24 Months): Infants develop attachments to specific caregivers who attend, accurately interpret, and consistently respond to their signals. Infants can gain proximity to caregivers through their own motor efforts, such as crawling.

       Phase 4: Reciprocal Relationships (24–30 Months and Onward): With advances in cognitive and language development, children can engage in interactions with their primary caregiver as partners, taking turns and initiating interactions within the attachment relationship. They begin to understand others’ emotions and goals and apply this understanding through strategies such as social referencing.

      Secure Base, Separation Anxiety, and Internal Working Models

      The formation of an attachment bond is crucial for infants’ development because it enables infants to begin to explore the world, using their attachment figure as a secure base, or foundation, to return to when frightened. When infants are securely attached to their caregivers, they feel confident to explore the world and to learn by doing so. As clear attachments form, starting at about 7 months, infants are likely to experience separation anxiety (sometimes called separation protest), a reaction to separations from an attachment figure that is characterized by distress and crying (Lamb & Lewis, 2015). Infants may follow, cling to, and climb on their caregivers in an attempt to keep them near.

      Separation anxiety tends to increase between 8 and 15 months of age, and then it declines. This pattern appears across many cultures and environments as varied as those of the United States, Israeli kibbutzim, and !Kung hunter-gatherer groups in Africa (Kagan et al., 1994). It is the formation of the attachment bond that makes separation anxiety possible, because infants must feel connected to their caregivers in order to feel distress in the caregivers’ absence. Separation anxiety declines as infants develop reciprocal relationships with caregivers, increasingly use them as secure bases, and can understand and predict parents’ patterns of separation and return, reducing their confusion and distress.

      The attachment bond developed during infancy and toddlerhood influences personality development because it comes to be represented as an internal working model, which includes the children’s expectations about whether they are worthy of love, whether their attachment figures will be available during times of distress, and how they will be treated. The internal working model influences the development of self-concept, or sense of self, in infancy and becomes a guide to later relationships throughout life (Bretherton & Munholland, 2016).

      Ainsworth’s Strange Situation and Attachment Classifications

      Virtually all infants form an attachment to their parents, but Canadian psychologist Mary Salter Ainsworth proposed that infants differ in security of attachment—the extent to which they feel that parents can reliably meet their needs. Like Bowlby, Ainsworth believed that infants must develop a dependence on parents, viewing them as a metaphorical secure base, in order to feel comfortable exploring the world (Salter, 1940). To examine attachment, Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation, a structured observational procedure that reveals the security of attachment when the infant is placed under stress. As shown in Table 6.2, the Strange Situation is a heavily structured observation task consisting of eight 3-minute-long episodes. In each segment, the infant is with the parent (typically the mother), with a stranger, with both, or alone. Observations center on the infant’s exploration of the room, his or her reaction when the mother leaves the room, and, especially, his or her responses during reunions, when the mother returns.

      On the basis of responses to the Strange Situation, infants are classified into one of several attachment types (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978).

      Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) believed that infants differ in the security of attachment. She created the Strange Situation to measure infants’ security of attachment.

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Table 6.2

       Secure Attachment: The securely attached infant uses the parent as a secure base, exploring the environment and playing with toys in the presence of the parent, but regularly checking in (e.g., by looking at the parent or bringing toys). The infant shows mild distress when the parent leaves. On the parent’s return, the infant greets the parent enthusiastically, seeks comfort, and then returns to individual play. About two thirds of North American infants who complete the Strange Situation are classified as securely attached (Lamb & Lewis, 2015).

       Insecure-Avoidant Attachment: Infants who display an insecure-avoidant attachment show little interest in the mother and busily explore the room during the Strange Situation. The infant is not distressed when the mother leaves and may react to the stranger in similar ways as to the mother. The infant ignores or avoids the mother on return or shows subtle signs of avoidance, such as failing to greet her or turning away from her. About 15% of samples of North American infants’ responses to the Strange Situation reflect this style of attachment (Lamb & Lewis, 2015).

       Insecure-Resistant Attachment: Infants with an insecure-resistant attachment show a mixed pattern of responses to the mother. The infant remains preoccupied with the mother throughout the procedure, seeking proximity and contact, clinging even before the separation. When the mother leaves, the infant is distressed and cannot be comforted. During reunions, the infant’s behavior suggests resistance, anger, and distress. The infant might seek proximity to the mother and cling to her while simultaneously pushing her away, hitting, or kicking. About 10% of North American infants tested in the Strange Situation fall into this category (Lamb & Lewis, 2015).

       Insecure-Disorganized Attachment: A fourth category was added later to account for the small set of infants (10% or below) who show inconsistent, contradictory behavior in then Strange Situation. The infant with insecure-disorganized attachment shows a conflict between approaching and fleeing the caregiver, suggesting fear (Main & Solomon, 1986). Infants showing insecure-disorganized attachment experience the greatest insecurity, appearing disoriented and confused. They may cry unexpectedly and may show a flat, depressed emotion and extreme avoidance or fearfulness of the caregiver.

      Attachment-Related Outcomes

      Secure parent–child attachments are associated with positive socioemotional development in infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Preschool and school-age children who were securely attached as infants tend to be more curious, empathetic, self-confident, and socially competent, and they will have more positive interactions and close friendships with peers (Groh, Fearon, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Roisman, 2017; Veríssimo, Santos, Fernandes, Shin, & Vaughn, 2014). The advantages of secure attachment continue into adolescence. Adolescents who were securely attached in infancy and early childhood are more socially competent, tend to be better at making and keeping friends and functioning in a social group, and demonstrate greater emotional health, self-esteem, ego resiliency, and peer competence (Boldt, Kochanska, Yoon, & Koenig Nordling, 2014; Sroufe, 2016; Stern & Cassidy, 2018).

      In contrast, insecure attachment in infancy, particularly disorganized attachment, is associated with long-term negative outcomes, including poor peer relationships, poor social competence, and higher rates of antisocial behavior, depression, and anxiety from childhood into adulthood (Groh