ATTACHMENT THEORY

John Bowlby (and Mary Ainsworth)

Presentation By: Breana Draudt

OBJECTIVES PURPOSE v  Purpose of the theory development

and selection

v  Historical context of authors and

theory

v  Structural elements

v  Analysis using Barnum’s criteria

v  Utility to research and practice

v  Applicability to psychology well being

and relationship quality in homeless

adolescents

v  Bowlby: To study attachment and

effects of deviations from

attachment

v Draudt: To determine applicability of

Attachment Theory to

psychological well-being and

relationship quality in homeless

adolescents

JOHN BOWLBY v  February 26, 1907 to September 2, 1990

v  4th of 6 children; upper middle class family

v  Spent an average of 1 hour with his mother per day

v  Grieved the loss of one of his nannies

v  Father was a surgeon, encouraged Bowlby to attend

medical school •  Attended medical school and later became interested in

psychiatry

v  Said to be one of the top 4 most influential people in

psychology this century

http://www.psicoterapiaintegrativa.com/therapists/htms/John_Bowlby.htm

MARY AINSWORTH

v December 1, 1913 to March 21, 1999

v Notable contributions to Attachment Theory

v  Studied bonding and attachment in Uganda before the formal presentation of

Attachment Theory

v  Proposed some of the major concepts of Attachment Theory: Patterns of

Attachment and Secure Base

http://www.famouspsychologists.org/mary-ainsworth/

INFLUENCES: THEORIES

v Control Systems Theory (“A control system is a means by which a variable

quantity or set of variable quantities is made to conform to a prescribed

norm;” the ability of one to control her environment (Waters))

v Dependency Theory (Learned drive, acquired through its association with the

reduction of primary drive (Ainsworth)) Singer and Prebisch’s theory

v Object-Relations Theory (“object” of an instinct is the agent through which

the instinctual aim is achieved, and the agent is usually conceived as

being another person” (Ainsworth)) Greenberg and Mitchell 1983

INFLUENCES: DISCIPLINES

v Medicine: Bowlby’s father was a surgeon; Bowlby attended medical

school

v Ethology: Study of animal behavior. Heavily influenced by Harlow’s

rhesus monkeys and Lorenz’s study of avian species

v Psychology: Bowlby was educated in psychoanalysis after medical

school. He believed that current psychoanalytic theory did not

describe the bond between an infant and his/her parent

CONCEPTS

Attachment

Behaviors • Early Interaction

Figures • Maternal

Deprivation

Patterns • Insecure • Secure

Functions • Sensitivity • Comfort

Attached Person • Internal Working

Models

ATTACHMENT

“ The dimension of the infant-caregiver

relationship involving protection and

security regulation. Within this theoretic

framework, attachment is conceptualized as

an intense and enduring affectional bond that

the infant develops with the mother figure, a bond that is biologically

rooted in the function of protection from danger”’ (Mooney, 2010)

http://familymatters.vision.org/FamilyMatters/bid/36390/Beyond-Attachment-Theory

T H E AT TAC H M E N T B E H AV I O U R A L S Y S T E M ( H O L M E S, 1 9 9 3 )

ATTACHMENT BEHAVIORS

“Attachment behaviour […] refers to any of the various forms of

behaviour that the person engages in from time to time to obtain and/or

maintain a desired proximity” (Bowlby, 1988).

“The condition in which an individual is linked emotionally with another

person, usually, but not always, someone perceived

to be older, stronger and wiser than themselves”

(Holmes, 1993)

Examples: Crying, clinging, smiling, vocalizing

http://www.lilomaternity.com/blog/is-your-baby-crying/

THE EVOLUTION OF ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOR

INFANCY

• Maternal Handling

Babyhood

•  Attachment Pattern

Latency

• Relationship Style

Adolescence

•  Internal World

Adulthood

•  ‘thinking’ about ‘thinking’

•  Self-other representation

Holmes, 1993)

ATTACHMENT PATTERNS v  Secure Attachment:

•  Emotionally open and straight forward

•  Accept comfort and protection from caregiver when distressed

•  From available, predictable and sensitive caregiving

v  Anxious Avoidant: •  Insecure •  Suppress or hide negative emotions •  Avoid eye contact •  Use toys as distraction •  From consistent distant, rejecting,

punitive caregiving; emotional/physical abuse

v  Anxious Ambivalent: •  Insecure •  Show mixed emotions to caregiver when

distressed •  Periods of helplessness and passivity,

aggression, or fear •  Explores surrounding but concerned with

proximity •  From unpredictable/impulsive caregivers;

neglect

v  Disorganized: •  Insecure •  Confusing mixture of conflicting-need to seek

proximity vs. need to escape •  May have abnormal body movements e.g. tics •  From prolonged isolation, neurological illness

http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~rcfraley/attachment.htm

VISUAL MODEL OF ATTACHMENT PATTERNS

ATTACHMENT FUNCTIONS

v  Proximity Maintenance allows the person to

stay close to and resist separation from the

attachment figure

v  Safe Haven Behavior provides reliability

on the attachment figure for support and comfort

v  A Secure Base is an environment provided by the attachment figure from which

a child/adolescent can return knowing that he will be welcomed, nourished physically

and emotionally, comforted and reassured. This allows for non-attachment behaviors

such as exploration, which can allow an individual to learn things that may increase

survival

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/vanm0049/myblog/2011/12/attach-vs.-detach.html

OTHER CONCEPTS v  Attachment Figure: one with whom another person (in the original context an infant/child) is

attached v  Maternal Depravation: Term from Bowbly’s earlier work describing the process of an infant

losing or being deprived of its mother. v  Early Interaction between infant and mother considered important for secure attachment.

Ainsworth emphasizes interaction within the first 9 months of life v  Sensitivity of the mother to her child’s needs; described as a parenting style that facilitates

secure attachment; part of “secure base” v  Comfort is the mother’s ability to soothe a distressed child; also part of “secure base”

v  Internal Working Models •  From Cognitive Psychology •  Higher animals need a map of the world in the brain to predict, control and manipulate their

environment through thoughts •  Environmental and organismal models that tell us about ourselves in relation to the world

D E V E L O P M E N TA L PAT H WAY S F RO M M AT E R N A L D E P R I VAT I O N ( H O L M E S, 1 9 9 3 )

ASSUMPTIONS/STATEMENTS

v Assumptions not explicitly stated •  Psychological bonds exist •  Attachment Behaviors exist •  Patterns of Attachment exist •  Attachment Figures exist (usually mother)

v  Statement importance not prioritized explicitly •  I interpreted some of the assumptions as existential statements (above) •  Relationship statements among attachment, attachment behaviors, patterns of

attachment, attachment figure, infant/child

EVALUATION: INTERNAL CRITICISM

v Clarity •  concepts are difficult to discern, but overall clearly described •  concepts are further separated into sub-concepts which are described several ways;

no single definitions •  the relationship between attachment and mental health are clearly explicated •  Bowlby wrote the theory in a trilogy of lectures, a synthesis of information may that

explains the theory parsimoniously is needed

v Consistency •  terms are used consistently •  delineates terms that may be misunderstood or have been misunderstood •  Attachment Theory has recently been applied to relationships other than parent/

child, which compromises consistency of original terms, meanings

EVALUATION: INTERNAL CRITICISM

v  Adequacy •  the theory fulfills it’s purpose •  further refinement and clarification may be necessary (e.g. synthesis of information) •  the subject matter is well accounted for

v  Logical Development •  Developed from several theories and disciplines •  Refined with input from Ainsworth and clarified in response to critique •  In early development, the idea was radical and unproven; today extensive literature

supports its premises •  Conclusions seem logical, argument was considered overstated given the available

evidence during the original development.

v  Level of Theory Development •  Well developed through several revisions (in response to critique, misunderstandings) •  Work continues to be done, specifically with measurement and expanding the applicability

EVALUATION: EXTERNAL CRITICISM

v  Reality Convergence •  Attachment is needed for human development •  Kettle suggests that attachment belongs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs •  Theory builds on existing work, very reality-based •  Considered a middle-range theory (possibly high middle range given increasingly broader

applicability) v  Utility

•  Applied extensively to research and practice in psychology and outside of the discipline including social work, nursing

v  Significance •  Mental illness is a significant problem •  Although intent was not necessarily to be useful to nursing, Attachment Theory addresses a

phenomenon experienced by nurses

EVALUATION: EXTERNAL CRITICISM

v  Discrimination •  borrowed from psychology, not unique to nursing; boundaries gray

•  nursing interventions can influence attachment behaviors, which clouds the boundaries

v  Scope: High middle range with “gushy” empirical testability and applicability •  Ethics of true empirical testability; retrospective studies possible •  Highly applied

v  Complexity •  Relatively few concepts, well described although lacking concision •  Factors influencing attachment are multidimensional and complex

•  Macro, Meso, Micro level factors •  Mediators and Moderators discussed in later revisions

OTHER CRITICISM v  Strongly focused on the maternal-infant bond

•  Inadequately describes paternal-infant bond •  Implicitly blames mothers for children’s mental illness + takes responsibility away

from fathers •  Feminists objected to Bowlby’s use of biology “to justify what is essentially a cultural

product of our own ‘patriarchal but father-absent’ society” Leupnitz (1988)

v Nature vs. nurture •  Too strongly accepts nurture are causative factor for mental illness •  Does not account for genetic predisposition to mental illness

v Mentions “attachment figures” but does not describe the differences in attachment between parents (particularly mothers) and other individuals to which one can be attached

UTILITY IN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Research v  Psychosomatic Illness

•  Chronic Pain •  Cardiovascular Disease

v  Relationships v  Nurse-Patient relationship + Patient

Outcomes (e.g. adherence) v  Child sexual abuse, child maltreatment v  Extensive research in psychology

•  Developmental psychopathology •  Cognitive Psychology •  Psychoanalysis

Practice v Guides clinical psychology v  Applied to psychiatric mental health

and women and infants nursing v Head start v  Custody cases v  Foster care

NEWER AND FUTURE APPLICABILITY

v May be more broadly applied with additional research studying attachment in

situations other than parent/child •  nurse/patient •  adolescent peer •  romantic couples •  attachment and loss at end of life

v Newly applied to psychosomatic illness

APPLICATION TO PRESENTER’S RESEARCH

-Bowlby studied homeless children and adolescents •  Wrote a report on mental health in homeless children in post-war

Europe for the World Health Organization (WHO)

-Several researchers apply Attachment Theory to their research with homeless youth including Tavechhio, Taylor-Seehafer, and Whitbeck

-Effective at providing a framework to understand psychological well being and relationship quality in relation to childhood attachment in homeless adolescents

-New research leading to further applicability to peer relationships, which can also be applied to psychological well being and relationship quality in homeless adolescents

http://johma.org/who_we_serve

References

Ainsworth, M. (1969) Object Relations, Dependency, and Attachment: A Theoretical Review of the Infant-Mother Relationship. Child Development 40 969-1025

Alhusen, J. L. (2008). A literature update on maternal-fetal attachment. JOGNN: Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 37(3), 315-328. doi: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00241.x

Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. I. aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. an expanded version of the fiftieth maudsley lecture, delivered before the royal college of psychiatrists, 19 november 1976. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 130(3), 201-210.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books INC.

Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment. Attachment Theory and Close Relationships, , 46-76.

Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory: John bowlby and mary ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 759-75.

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Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (2008). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment.

Holmes, J. (1993). John bowlby and attachment theory. New York: Routledge. Klette, T. (2013). Attachment. In Peterson, S., Bredow, T. (Ed.), Middle range theories application to nursing

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Mooney, C. (2010). Chapter 1: John bowlby. In D. Health (Ed.), Theories of attachment: An introduction to bowlby, ainsworth, gerber, brazelton, kennel & klaus (pp. 17-25). MN: Redleaf Press. (4), 375-392.

Peterson, S., & Bredow, T. (2013). In Peterson S., Bredow T. (Eds.), Middle range theories: Application to nursing research (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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