Loose attachment is more commonly seen as an adverse event. Which has extreme options. It is considered a psychological pathology, a disorder. Offspring attachment was first studied by Ainsworth and colleagues. At the same time, a favorable, non-dangerous type and a couple of negative ones were identified. They have been called anxiously ambivalent, avoidant forms.
Good and bad
If children do not have attachment disorders, then a safe type is formed. This means that the younger generation perceives the mother as a foundation, a base that allows them to safely explore the world, expanding their own capabilities. Even if the mother is not around, such a child feels relatively comfortable. There is some internal parent model in his view. That is, the child imagines that a woman will respond to requests at any time, that she is always available. If we compare such a child with those who have negative attachment options, we cannotice that he fulfills maternal requests faster and more willingly, and is inclined to work together. Significantly less often, conflict behavioral reactions are recorded in such children; anxiety is not characteristic of them. Interaction with the mother allows you to control negative emotions. Social progress and emotional progress are more successful than those with unhe althy forms.
Escape type
Such a violation of attachment in children is noticeable if the child defiantly avoids communication with the mother to a moderate degree. Such a minor consciously suppresses his strong emotions, and primarily negative ones, in order to maintain close enough contact with the woman who gave birth to him. The mother, in turn, rejects excessively intense contacts, tries to exclude too close interaction. This format of attachment, if the mother leaves, is characterized by the fact that the child does not get upset. The child will not try with all his might to organize close interaction with the mother. He explores the world around him on his own. When making decisions and choosing behavioral responses, such a child does not take into account what emotions his actions will cause in the mother.
Why is this happening?
This type of attachment disorder is characteristic of the case when the mother is insensitive, does not pay due attention to the condition of her offspring, when she seeks to exclude excessively close contact with him. The avoidant type is characteristic of relationships in which a woman rejects her child. In the work of some psychologists one can seea detailed analysis of symptoms indicating a woman's avoidance of close interaction with her child.
Among the symptoms is the lack of an emotional relationship with mutual activity involving a child. A woman may know that at some point her child is ill, but his crying does not provoke an adequate response in her emotional state. If the child shows distress with obvious signals, the woman ignores them. In some families, there is a reaction, but only in the case when the child shows his condition with a very loud cry or cries a lot. There is a possibility of such a type of attachment disorder as avoidance, if a woman shows a somewhat stereotypical attitude towards offspring, if she pays enough attention to the hygiene and appearance of the child, ignoring the state of mind. In families that are characterized by such relationships, often the mother, communicating with the baby, perceives him more as inanimate. Such a woman can easily leave without telling the child about it, and if she needs to interact with him “face to face”, she feels awkward, tense, and uncomfortable. She prefers mediated interaction or does not disdain to leave her child alone.
Problems on both sides
A woman feels that her duties as a mother are too great for her, does not stop the child when he does something dangerous, and seeks to teach him what is beyond the capabilities of a minor in age. For the woman herself, such a state, such communication with a child, is a source of stress and discomfort.
HowPsychological observations show that attachment disorders, especially severe cases, quite strongly affect a person’s future. Emotional deprivation in childhood, improper care, incorrect organization of interaction can cause autism. All this contributes to the development of such a deviation as avoidant attachment. The influence of factors is complex, and the more aspects that provoke such a violation, the higher the likelihood of the baby developing manifestations of the characteristics inherent in autism.
Resistive type
This attachment disorder is also known as anxious-ambivalent. The juvenile has difficulty accepting the need to be separated from his mother and impatiently awaits her return, and the contact soon breaks down due to aggressive reactions or outbursts of affective behavior due to subtle maternal errors in the interaction. So, if a woman briefly switched her attention and was distracted from her child, this provokes an undesirable response on his part. A feature of ambivalent behavior is aggressive violent outbursts, unpredictable negative emotional outbursts, indicating an acute reaction of the child to separation, including situations in which it does not threaten him. Currently, this type of violation has been studied very little.
Symbiotic type
Such a violation of attachment is estimated by some modern researchers as a kind of anxious-ambivalent. In some sources you can find the term "neurotic". This isdue to the fact of frequent observation of improper attachment and the neurotic pathology that follows them, an unhe althy state. The symbiotic form is characterized by the child's tendency to exclude contact with the mother visually, by voice. At the same time, the child strives for bodily interaction, literally sticks. The child may force his mother to carry him in her arms. If it is necessary to separate, the minor is very upset. This extends even to situations where the duration of separation is only a minute or more.
As such a deviation develops, there is a possibility of bodily contact transforming into sexually tinged. This is especially the case in which the woman encourages such interaction. For such a child, there is an obvious parallel between physical and emotional intimacy. If the child rejects the woman, he behaves aggressively.
Maternal behavior
In the theory of attachment disorders, it is said that ambivalent, symbiotic types of malformation are characteristic of cases when a woman reacts unpredictably to her offspring, behaves inconsistently, trying to interact with a minor. She may treat him as if he were seriously ill and in need of a particularly large amount of care. At the same time, the child feels a lack of affection and attention, as maternal tension and anxiety are constantly present.
Among the features of maternal behavior is the selectivity of reactions to signals of distress. At the same time, the woman practically does not react when the childshows positive emotions. She tries never to part with her offspring, but may show hostility towards him. From the observations of psychologists, it is known that the most typical format is negative affect.
Is there anything else?
In the last decade of the last century, scientists have been actively dealing with issues of attachment disorders in adults and children. And this has borne fruit. In the works of Solomon and Maine, one can find the definition of another form of negative attachment, characteristic of the younger generation in relation to the woman who brought him into the world. He was called disorganized-disoriented. A minor who has such a form is characterized by unpredictability of behavior, inconsistency of reactions. If such a child is separated from his mother, a look of astonishment can be seen on his face. Some walk around in circles without a purpose. But being next to a woman, the child shows fearfulness, can behave ambivalently. According to psychologists, in this case, the child does not know whether it is worth and whether it is possible to ask a woman for help, whether it is necessary to avoid her in order to be safe. To a greater extent, this is typical of cases when the mother reacts inadequately to what is happening, when the signals she gives through behavior confuse the minor. It is believed that maternal behavior is the main reason for the formation of a disorganized-disoriented deviation.
Destructive affect
Among the types of attachment disorders, those formed against the background of separation are singled out. First time termproposed by Ilyina. Her task was to qualitatively put into words the state of a person who is forced to adapt to society at a younger (preschool) age, while the process is extremely difficult. Destructive affect was called a persistent and strong negative reaction of a minor, which appears when he feels himself in a dangerous situation. Such a child realizes that it is impossible to maintain the previous level of interaction with the mother. As a result, negative emotions take over. Because of this, the ability to adapt to the updated environment is impaired.
About manifestations
Manifestations of violations of the type in question can be found in the ICD-10. Here you can find information about extreme pathological forms. In the ICD-10, one can find a description of reactive attachment disorder, which is characteristic of children. It is given in relation to persons up to three years of age. Psychologists, however, point to the fact that a similar pathological condition is characteristic of the first three years of human existence and later.
Among the key symptoms of attachment disorders are the inconsistency of behavioral reactions, most pronounced when a minor breaks up with a person close to him. His mood is lowered, many are prone to sadness and apathy. Some are overly wary and fearful. If you try to calm such a child, he does not respond to this effect. Affective reaction is not enough. There may be disturbances in interaction with peers, in some growth is slowed down, in others somatic diseases are detected. Deviations in the development of attachment are indicated by aggression, isolation in response to distress (own, third-party).
About symptoms in more detail
Some signs of attachment disorders can be seen in the description of separation anxiety, disinhibited development of the child. The key manifestation of anxiety, separation anxiety, is excessive distress shown by a minor, suggesting separation from the object to which he is attached. Distress manifests itself both during separation and after it. The child is crying, anxious, irritable, quick-tempered. He does not want to part with those to whom he is attached, he is constantly worried, although there is no reason for this. He suggests that some dramatic circumstances may arise, due to which separation cannot be avoided.
Psychological trauma, attachment disorder can be indicated by nightmares. In the case of anxiety, the plots of such visions are usually associated with separation. Recurrence of somatic symptoms is possible if the child is forced to be separated from the object to which he is attached. Most often in such situations, the stomach hurts, the person feels sick, vomits.
Disinhibited form
With such a violation, attachment has no direction, it is diffuse. The person is indiscriminately sociable. It is difficult for him to form a deep attachment. When a child is very small, he clings to the elders, strives to become the object of everyone's attention. If the elder tries to set boundaries, rules of communication, the child interrupts interaction with this person.
Reasons andconsequences
It is assumed that there is a wide variety of disorders that can disturb a person sooner or later. Today, psychologists are convinced that psychopathology can become a consequence of attachment disorders. Research has been done. They were designed to determine how mental pathologies and negative forms of attachment are related. Particularly curious are the works of Kerig, Venard, in which the authors prove that it is not possible to determine an unambiguous relationship. The development of any minor involves an abundance of unique factors that affect his psyche. At the same time, there are both risky and safe ones. Accordingly, the considered form of negative attachment is one of the negative factors, but nothing more.
What to do?
Therapy of attachment disorders is more often considered in the aspect of communication with adopted children, since such problems are more typical for such families than for all others, and it is these people who often seek specialized help from a psychologist. The only modern reliable way to help is therapeutic education. As psychotherapists note, the key and basic rule of such upbringing is to take care of yourself first of all, and only then of others. All parents must obey this rule. In addition, if it can be assumed that there are problems in the upbringing and formation of attachment, it is necessary to prevent their aggravation. And, if possible, an appearance.
One of the rules for treating attachment disorders isinteraction with the whole family. All relatives should be a single team. It is known that minors with this problem tend to turn some people against each other in order to avoid separation from those to whom they are attached. It is equally important to provide a stable and safe home stop. In the conditions of his home, the child should feel emotionally stable. The feeling of physical threat is unacceptable - it will only aggravate the situation. If a child has committed some kind of misconduct, the task of parents is to help the child learn an important lesson from this experience. The best option is to create consequences corresponding to the violation, with the manifestation of sympathy at the last moment of their occurrence.
