An attachment is the "lasting psychological connectedness between human beings" (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194).

The study of attachment originated with the work of Sigmund Freud in the 1950s. Attachment can be described as a special form of emotional relationship involving mutuality, comfort, safety and pleasure for both caregiver and child in a relationship. Freud’s work was extended by John Bowlby who is often credited as the father of attachment research because of the extensive research he contributed to the field of understanding about attachment.

In the 1970s, Ainsworth built on Bowlby’s work by categorized attachment styles and developing an assessment, called the Strange Situation Assessment, for determining attachment styles. She labeled these attachment styles: 1) securely attached, ambivalent-insecure, and avoidant-insecure.

Type I: Securely Attached

Child is able to separate from attachment figure with reasonable discomfort, calm self, and reunite with attachment figure without avoiding or becoming hypervigalent.

Type II: Ambivalent-insecure

Child may become overly upset, aggressive, clingy, etc. when attachment figure attempts to leave the child or upon return. Child has difficulty comforting self. Child may indiscriminately go to any adult for comfort.

Type III: Avoidant-insecure

Child does not seem upset if attachment figure leaves the child and does not show appropriate affect when the attachment figure returns.

In 1984, Main and Solomon, (1986), introduced a forth style of attachment called Disorganized-insecure. In this style of attachment, the child altered responses, sometimes showing ambivalence and sometimes showing avoidance when the attachment figure left or returned from sight.

Zeanah, C. H., Mammen, O K., & Lieberman, A. F. (1993) have added to these attachment styles by refining them into smaller categories and providing detail. The five attachment styles described by Zeanah and colleagues include:

Type I: Nonattached Attachment Disorder

The child does not prefer a particular adult caregiver and/or is indiscriminately social to everyone.

Type II: Indiscriminate Attachment Disorder

The child takes reckless risks and does not take safety precautions, and may be overly friendly with strangers.

Type III: Inhibited Attachment Disorder

The child does not like being touched, does not like playing with toys, withdraws or avoids social situations, and shows a restricted range of emotions in social situations.

Type IV: Aggressive Attachment Disorder

The child has seems attached to a particular adult caregiver, but because of the many outbursts of anger or aggression, the relationship is disrupted.

Type V: Role-Reversal Attachment Disorder

The child assumes roles and responsibilities of an adult, is over-nurturing or solicitous.

In addition to these five styles of attachment, Brodzinsky (1998), Hughes (1997) and Howe (1995) have added our understanding of attachment styles by investigating specific styles of attachment in children that were adopted. Further research into attachment styles is necessary if we are to fully understand the attachment process and the factors that support or hinder a healthy attachment. Research is limited on attachment styles over time, the effects of secondary attachments to the original attachment, and many other aspects of the attachment period.

Bibliography:

Ainsworth, M., M. C. Blehar, et al. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum.

Brodzinsky, D. M. (1987). “Adjustment to adoption: A psychosocial perspective.” Clinical Psychology Review 7: 25-47.

Brodzinsky, D. M., D. Smith, et al. (1998). Children's adjustment to adoption. Thousand Oaks, Sage.

Howe, D. (1995). “Adoption and attachment.” Adoption & Fostering 19(4): 7-15.

Hughes, D. (1997). Facilitating developmental attachment: The road to emotional recovery and behavioral change in foster and adopted children. Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson, Inc.

Main, M. and J. Solomon (1986). Discovery of an insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern. Affective development in infancy. T. B. Brazelton and M. W. Yogman. Nowrood, NJ, Ablex Publishing.

Zeanah, C. H., Mammen, O K., & Lieberman, A. F. (1993) Disorders of attachment. In C. H. Zeanah (Ed.), Handbook of Infant Mental Health, NY: The Guilford Press.