Attachment behaviors are proximity-seeking behaviors that draw the person closer to a preferred caregiver. The proximity creates or renews or recreates a secure base—a sense of safety, security, and comfort from which the person, once settled, can begin to explore the world.
Attachment behaviors (e.g., crying, reaching, crawling) serve to increase proximity between an infant and primary caregiver. The attachment is the tie from a child to a specific attachment figure characterized by the use of that figure as a secure base for comfort and exploration.
Bowlby identified four types of attachment styles: secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganised and avoidant.
Of the four patterns of attachment (secure, avoidant, resistant and disorganized), disorganized attachment in infancy and early childhood is recognized as a powerful predictor for serious psychopathology and maladjustment in children (2,18–24).
The exact cause of attachment disorders is not known, but research suggests that inadequate care-giving is a possible cause. The physical, emotional and social problems associated with attachment disorders may persist as the child grows older.
What are three signs of insecure attachment? Three signs that a person has insecure attachment include the inability to engage in intimacy, struggling to form healthy relationships with others, and unpredictable or inconsistent behavior with loved ones.
Adults with an anxious attachment style are often afraid of or even incapable of being alone. They seek intimacy and closeness and are highly emotional and dependent on others. The presence of the loved one appears to be a remedy for their strong emotional needs.
Trouble showing or feeling their emotions. Discomfort with physical closeness and touch. Accusing their partner of being too clingy or overly attached. Refusing help or emotional support from others.
Anxious-ambivalent attachment.
People with anxious attachment are usually needy. They are anxious and have low self-esteem. They want to be close with others but are afraid that people don't want to be with them. As a child, your parents probably were inconsistent. They might have responded sometimes.
Style 4: disorganised-controlling
These children often display controlling and manipulative behaviour. This form of attachment can develop because of: abuse.
Parents who form a secure attachment see their child as a separate person and tend to be able to attune to the child's needs. They're able to empathize with the child's experience and remain present or “be there” for the child. This doesn't mean the parent has to be perfect. No one is attuned to their child 24/7.
Bowlby viewed attachment as a product of evolutionary processes.3 While the behavioral theories of attachment suggested that attachment was a learned process, Bowlby and others proposed that children are born with an innate drive to form attachments with caregivers.
Individuals with an anxious attachment style are characterized with: Being clingy. Having an intensely persistent and hypervigilant alertness towards their partner's actions or inactions.
Examples of Insecure Attachment Behavior in Children
Actively avoiding parents/caregivers. Frequent bouts of inconsolable crying. Being overly clingy with parents/caregivers. Masking emotions.
Common symptoms of DSED include: Overly reactive excitement when interacting with new people. Excessively friendly, chatty, and wanting to touch strangers (in ways that are outside of age-appropriate or cultural norms) Lack of concern about being left alone with a stranger (and feeling safe leaving with them)
Attachment trauma, like other forms of childhood trauma, can affect adult relationships. It can, for example, show up in avoiding relationships for fear of rejection, intense fears of intimacy, or being overly attached, such as ending up in codependent relationships.
Babies and young children who have attachment issues may be more likely to develop behavioural problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or conduct disorder (Fearon et al, 2010)14. Children who have attachment issues can have difficulty forming healthy relationships when they grow up.
Attachment disorders denote two very specific and rare forms of diagnosable mental disorder identified by the ICD-10 and DSM-5. The ICD-10 terms them 'reactive' and 'disinhibited', whereas the DSM-5 terms them as being either a 'reactive' or a 'disinhibited' social engagement disorder.
Attachment styles are developed during infancy and early childhood, and an insecure attachment style can lead to a fear of abandonment in adulthood. Abandonment issues may be caused by childhood abuse, neglect, or environmental stressors, such as growing up in poverty or living in a dangerous area.