Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure Research Articles

Inheriting Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation: Questions of Legacy, Authority, and Methodology for Contemporary Developmental Attachment Researchers

Mary Ainsworth’s legacy continues to shape the social and developmental sciences well after her death. The Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure has, for decades, not only provided the underpinning methodology of attachment research, but also the frame of reference for theory. This has produced conditions where, as in psychoanalysis, debates about the future of the paradigm also entail a struggle to claim and negotiate the legacy of a founding figure. To date, historians have only looked at attachment research up to the 1980s. Interviews with 15 leading contemporary attachment researchers revealed Ainsworth’s importance to later research, but also laid bare the challenges of claiming her inheritance in responding to the current challenges facing this area of research.

Attachment & Child Health (ATTACH) pilot trials: Effect of parental reflective function intervention for families affected by toxic stress.

Toxic stressors (e.g., parental violence, depression, low income) place children at risk for insecure attachment. Parental reflective function-parents' capacity to understand their own and their child's mental states and thus regulate their own feelings and behavior toward their child-may buffer the negative effects of toxic stress on attachment. Our objective was to test the effectiveness of the Attachment and Child Health (ATTACH) intervention, focusing on improving reflective function and children's attachment security, for at-risk mothers and children <36 months of age. Three pilot studies were conducted with women and children from an inner city agency serving vulnerable, low-income families and a family violence shelter. Randomized control trial (n = 20, n = 10 at enrollment) and quasi-experimental (n = 10 at enrollment) methods tested the effect of the ATTACH intervention on the primary outcome of reflective function scores, from transcribed Parent Development Interviews. Our secondary outcome was children's attachment patterns from Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure. Despite some attrition, mixed methods analysis of covariance and t tests revealed significant differences in maternal, child, and overall reflective function, with moderate effect sizes. While more children whose mothers received the ATTACH program were securely attached posttreatment, as compared with controls, significant differences were not observed, which may be due to missing observations (n = 5 cases). Understanding the effectiveness of programs like the ATTACH intervention contributes to improved programs and services to promote healthy development of children affected by toxic stress.

Talking to Dogs: Companion Animal-Directed Speech in a Stress Test.

Simple SummaryCompanion animal-directed speech is a current topic of research, interesting due to its similarity to infant-directed speech. Dog owners seem to almost subconsciously use this high-pitched and repetitive way of speaking, slightly adapted, for dogs. The aim of this study was to investigate dog-directed speech in different contexts and examine whether owner personality and relationship quality affect it. We found that owners’ personality and gender affect their dog-directed speech. The majority of the modifications of dog-directed speech could be explained by a differential use of voice pitch and range. Our study supports the idea that voice pitch was used to communicate affect, whereas pitch range was used as an attention-getting strategy. Based on our results, we conclude that dog-directed speech is adjusted depending on context, gender, and personality. Societal value in this study consists of its contribution to basic knowledge of how we talk to animals, which may help in preventing accidents (e.g., dog bites) as well as improving animal training.Companion animal-directed speech (CADS) has previously been investigated in comparison to infant-directed speech and adult-directed speech. To investigate the influence of owner caregiving, attachment pattern, and personality on CADS, we used the Ainsworth strange situation procedure. It allowed us to assess voice source parameters of CADS across different contexts. We extracted speech parameters (voicing duration, voice pitch, pitch range, and jitter) from 53 dog owners recorded during the procedure. We found that owner personality and gender but not caregiving/attachment behavior affect their voice’s pitch, range, and jitter during CADS. Further, we found a differential and context-specific modification of pitch and range, consistent with the idea that pitch communicates affect, whereas range is more of an attention-getting device. This differential usage, and the increased pitch, emphasize and support the parallels described between CADS and infant-directed speech. For the first time, we also show the effect of personality on CADS and lay the basis for including jitter as a potentially useful measure in CADS.

DISORGANIZATION, FEAR AND ATTACHMENT: WORKING TOWARDSCLARIFICATION.

ABSTRACTIn 1990, M. Main and J. Solomon introduced the procedures for coding a new “disorganized” infant attachment classification for the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure (M.D.S. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978). This classification has received a high degree of interest, both from researchers and from child welfare and clinical practitioners. Disorganized attachment has primarily been understood through the lens of E. Hesse and M. Main's concept of “fright without solution,” taken to mean that an infant experiences a conflict between a desire to approach and flee from a frightening parent when confronted by the Strange Situation. Yet, looking back, it can be observed that the way Hesse and Main's texts were formulated and read has generated confusion; there have been repeated calls in recent years for renewed theory and clarification about the relationship between disorganization and fear. Responding to these calls, this article revisits the texts that introduced the idea of fright without solution, clarifying their claims through articulating more precisely the different meanings of the term fear. This clarified account will then be applied to consideration of pathways to infant disorganized behaviors.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of time-intensive cognitive-behaviour therapy for postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder: effects on maternal symptoms, mother-infant interactions and attachment.

There is increasing recognition that perinatal anxiety disorders are both common and potentially serious for mother and child. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be triggered or exacerbated in the postpartum period, with mothers reporting significant effects on parenting tasks. However, there is little evidence concerning their effective treatment or the impact of successful treatment on parenting. A total of 34 mothers with OCD and a baby of 6 months old were randomized into either time-intensive cognitive-behaviour therapy (iCBT) or treatment as usual (TAU). iCBT took place after randomization at 6 months postpartum and was completed by 9 months. Maternal symptomatology, sensitivity in mother-infant interactions and parenting were assessed at baseline and reassessed at 12 months postpartum. At 12 months attachment was also assessed using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure. A healthy control group of mothers and infants (n = 37) underwent the same assessments as a benchmark. iCBT was successful in ameliorating maternal symptoms of OCD (controlled effect size = 1.31-1.90). However, mother-infant interactions were unchanged by treatment and remained less sensitive in both OCD groups than a healthy control group. The distribution of attachment categories was similar across both clinical groups and healthy controls with approximately 72% classified as secure in each group. iCBT is an effective intervention for postpartum OCD. Sensitive parenting interactions are affected by the presence of postpartum OCD and this is not improved by successful treatment of OCD symptoms. However, the overall attachment bond appears to be unaffected. Longitudinal studies are needed to explore the impact of postpartum OCD as the child develops.

Social factors influencing cortisol modulation in dogs during a strange situation procedure

Abstract In human-dog relationships, positive interaction and social attention may mutually dampen stress responses. In humans, attachment representations and personality are linked to the modulation of individual stress reactions. We investigated the connections between dog attachment to the owner, owner attitudes and relationship toward the dog, and the personality of both on stress coping in dogs during the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure for dogs. For the first time, dog attachment patterns were assessed via the original Ainsworth attachment classification system. In addition, cortisol was measured from saliva in the context of play with the owner and 2 threat situations, once with and once without the owner present. We found that dogs classified as securely attached secreted less cortisol during the attachment ( P = 0.008) and play situations ( P = 0.031) and showed by trend a stronger cortisol reactivity during the threat situation when the owner was absent ( P = 0.086) than dogs which were classified as insecure. The higher the owner's self-reported insecure-ambivalent attachment toward the dog and perception of the dog as a social support, the higher was the dog's cortisol reactivity during the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure ( P = 0.004 and P = 0.018). Furthermore, it was found that owners high in neuroticism and agreeableness had dogs with low cortisol reactivity ( P = 0.003 and P = 0.001). Older dogs showed less cortisol reactivity than younger ones ( P = 0.023). Male dogs of male owners tended to show the lowest cortisol reactivity compared to all other human gender-dog sex combinations ( P = 0.008). In conclusion, results show that secure dog attachment to the owner, owner-dog relationship, and personality of both influence the dog's stress coping.

Evaluating the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to Assess the Bond between Dogs and Humans

The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) is increasingly being used to study attachment between dogs and humans. It has been developed from the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure, which is used extensively to investigate attachment between children and their parents. In this experiment, 12 female beagle dogs were tested in two treatments to identify possible order effects in the test, a potential weakness in the SSP. In one treatment (FS), dogs participated together with a ‘familiar person’ and a ‘stranger’. In a control treatment (SS), the same dogs participated together with two unfamiliar people, ‘stranger A’ and ‘stranger B’. Comparisons were made between episodes within as well as between treatments. As predicted in FS, dogs explored more in the presence of the familiar person than the stranger. Importantly, they also explored more in the presence of stranger A (who appeared in the same order as the familiar person and followed the same procedure) than stranger B in SS. Furthermore, comparisons between treatments, where a familiar person was present in FS and stranger A was present in SS, showed no differences in exploration. In combination, these results indicate that the effect of a familiar person on dogs' exploratory behaviour, a key feature when assessing secure attachment styles, could not be tested reliably due to the order in which the familiar person and the stranger appear. It is proposed that in the future only counterbalanced versions of the SSP are used. Alternatively, since dogs reliably initiated more contact with the familiar person compared to the strangers, it is suggested that future studies on attachment in dogs towards humans should focus either on the behaviour of the dog in those episodes of the SSP when the person returns, or on reunion behaviour in other studies, specially designed to address dog-human interactions at this time.

Predicting adult physical illness from infant attachment: a prospective longitudinal study.

Recent epidemiological and longitudinal studies indicate that attachment relationships may be a significant predictor of physical health in adulthood. This study is among the few to prospectively link attachment classifications assessed in infancy to physical health outcomes 30 years later in adulthood, controlling for various health-related confounds. Participants were 163 individuals involved in a 32-year longitudinal study of risk and adaptation who have been followed since birth. Attachment classifications were assessed at ages 12 and 18 months using the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure. Stability of attachment security was derived from these assessments. At age 32, participants completed a questionnaire asking about the presence of or treatment for current physical illnesses. Binary logistic regression analyses controlling for health-related confounds at age 32 indicated that individuals who were insecurely attached (i.e., anxious-resistant or anxious-avoidant) during infancy were more likely to report an inflammation-based illness in adulthood than those classified as securely attached during infancy. There also was a trend whereby individuals classified as anxious-resistant reported more nonspecific symptoms in adulthood than those classified as either anxious-avoidant or secure. Individuals who were continuously insecure during infancy were more likely to report all types of physical illness in adulthood. These findings reveal the lasting effect of early interpersonal relationships on physical health and suggests that infancy may be a fruitful point for prevention efforts. The widespread influence that attachment has on endogenous and exogenous health-related processes may make it particularly potent in the prevention of later physical health problems.

The influence of attachment and temperament on venipuncture distress in 14-month-old infants: The Generation R Study

Objective This study examined the effects of attachment and temperament on infant distress during venipuncture. Method The study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a prospective population-based study. Two different research procedures (i.e., blood sampling and the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure) yielded measures of venipuncture distress and attachment security and disorganization in 246 infants aged 14 months. Four temperament traits (distress to limitations, fear, recovery from distress, and sadness) were assessed using the maternally reported Infant Behavior Questionnaire – Revised, at the age of 6 months. Results There were no differences between mean levels of distress during venipuncture in infants classified as having insecure attachment, but there was a trend for disorganized attachment. The temperament traits were not related to distress. However, children with a disorganized attachment and higher temperamental fear had more venipuncture distress. Conclusion When different risk factors are present simultaneously, infant distress is heightened.

Affect expression in mother–infant interaction and subsequent attachment development

Study results diverge considerably in respect of the range of emotions expressed and control of negative affect by mothers in subsequently securely and insecurely attached dyads. The present study thus analyzes whether attachment security can be predicted by preceding maternal style of affect expression and control. Participants were 89 healthy firstborn infants and their primary caregivers. Infants’ and mothers’ positive and negative affect expression and maternal lack of openness (i.e. attempts to mask negative emotion) were assessed at 4, 8, and 12 months. Attachment security was assessed at 18 months using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure. At 4 months, a pattern consisting of positive maternal affect expression accompanied by neutral or negative expression in the infant was associated with later insecurity. At 12 months, low maternal openness, low amount of negative affect expression and the coincidence of mother and infant's positive affect expression were linked to insecurity. Thus, in the infant's first months mothers in subsequently insecurely attached dyads show a high amount of positive emotion which is often not shared with the infant. At the end of the infant's first year these mothers show a less open emotion communication style, including attempts to hide negative affect and heightening of positive mood.

Enhancement of attachment and cognitive development of young nursery‐reared chimpanzees in responsive versus standard care

Forty-six nursery-reared chimpanzee infants (22 females and 24 males) receiving either standard care (n = 29) or responsive care (n = 17) at the Great Ape Nursery at Yerkes participated in this study. Standard care (ST) consisted primarily of peer-rearing, with humans providing essential health-related care. Responsive care (RC) consisted of an additional 4 hr of interaction 5 days a week with human caregivers who were specially trained to enhance species-typical chimpanzee socio-emotional and communicative development. At 9 months, ST and RC chimpanzees were examined with the Bayley Scales for Infant Development to assess their Mental Development Index (MDI). At 12 months, the chimpanzees were assessed with their human caregivers in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). In this first study to use the SSP in chimpanzees, nursery-reared chimpanzees exhibited the definite patterns of distress, proximity seeking, and exploration that underpin the SSP for human infants. In ST chimpanzees the attachment classification distribution was similar to that of human infants raised in Greek or Romanian orphanages. RC chimpanzees showed less disorganized attachment to their human caregivers, had a more advanced cognitive development, and displayed less object attachment compared to ST chimpanzees. Responsive care stimulates chimpanzees' cognitive and emotional development, and is an important factor in ameliorating some of the adverse effects of institutional care.

A counterbalanced version of Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure reveals secure-base effects in dog–human relationships

It has been proposed that the dog–human relationship constitutes an infantile-like attachment. However, previous empirical support based on Ainsworth's Strange Situation test has proved inconclusive due to order effects inherent in the original procedure. In particular, these order effects compromise the ability to establish an essential facet of attachment: whether or not owners function as a secure base for their pet dogs. Order effects were counteracted in the present study by including a second condition in which the order of owner and stranger presence was counterbalanced. Hence, 38 adult dog-owner pairs were randomly placed in two conditions, both comprised of six 3-min episodes. In condition A, dogs entered an unfamiliar room with their owner; a stranger entered; the owner left the dog with the stranger; the dog was left alone in the room; the owner returned; and finally the dog was left with the stranger again. In condition B, the order in which owner and stranger were present was reversed. Secure-base effects were indicated in that the dogs explored, remained passive, played with the stranger and engaged in individual play more when in the presence of their owner than when left with the stranger or alone. Therefore, the dogs’ behaviour provides evidence consistent with the hypothesis that the dog–human bond constitutes an attachment. The possible role of attachment in canine separation anxiety is briefly discussed.

Predicting children's anxiety from early attachment relationships

This study assessed whether infants with anxious-ambivalent attachment develop higher levels of anxiety later in childhood than do infants with secure attachment. Infants ( N = 136) participated in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure at 12 months of age. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) was completed by children and their mothers at 11 years of age. Results show that compared with children who were securely attached in infancy, children who were ambivalently attached had higher levels of school phobia, and, that compared with boys who were securely attached boys who were ambivalently attached had higher levels of social phobia at 11 years. However, in this normative sample, anxious-ambivalent attachment was not related to anxiety levels that approach pathological significance. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research on associations between attachment and anxiety disorders.

Foster Caregiver Motivation and Infant Attachment: How do Reasons for Fostering Affect Relationships?

This study reports the results of the effects of types of caregiver motivation to foster parent on the security of attachment of infants in care. Using the Motivations for Foster Parenting Inventory and the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure, the differences in motivation of kin and non-kin caregivers and the effects of motivation on security of attachment of 46 infants is reported. Result found that motivations to foster, such as the desire to increase family size, and social concern for the community, were significant predictors for secure attachment; while reasons for fostering such as spiritual expression, adoption, and replacement of a grown child, were predictors of insecure attachment. Research and practice implications are discussed.

The importance of shared environment in mother-infant attachment security: a behavioral genetic study.

In a sample of 157 monozygotic and dizygotic twins, genetic and environmental influences on infant attachment and temperament were quantified. Only unique environmental or error components could explain the variance in disorganized versus organized attachment as assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure. For secure versus nonsecure attachment, 52% of the variance in attachment security was explained by shared environment, and 48% of the variance was explained by unique environmental factors and measurement error. The role of genetic factors in attachment disorganization and attachment security was negligible. Genetic factors explained 77% of the variance in temperamental reactivity, and unique environmental factors and measurement error explained 23%. Differences in temperamental reactivity were not associated with attachment concordance.

Disorganised Attachment Behaviour among Infants Born Subsequent to Stillbirth

There is limited evidence that siblings of stillborn infants are more vulnerable to psychological problems. This case-controlled study examines the relationship between previous stillbirth and the next child's pattern of attachment and explores factors in the mother which may be associated with and which may explain the pattern of infant attachment. We examined 53 infants next-born after a stillbirth, and 53 control infants of primigravid mothers. Maternal demographic, psychiatric, and attachment data were collected in pregnancy, and self-report measures of depression collected in the first year. Infant attachment patterns to the mothers were assessed when the infants were 12 months old using the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure. Infants next-born after stillbirth showed significant increase in disorganisation of attachment to the mother compared with control infants (p < .04). The difference was not accounted for by differences in psychiatric symptoms or demography. It was strongly predicted by maternal unresolved status with respect to loss as measured in the Adult Attachment Interview, and less strongly by maternal experience of elective termination of pregnancy and by the mother having seen her stillborn infant. The study adds weight to previously reported clinical observations, that infants born after stillbirth may be at risk of an increase in psychological and behavioural problems in later childhood. The strong association between disorganisation of infant attachment and maternal state of mind with respect to loss suggests that the mother's state of mind may be causal, and raises interesting questions about the mechanism of intergenerational transmission. Given the existing evidence of later developmental problems, longer-term follow-up of these children would be valuable.

Disorganised Attachment Behaviour among Infants Born Subsequent to Stillbirth

There is limited evidence that siblings of stillborn infants are more vulnerable to psychological problems. This case-controlled study examines the relationship between previous stillbirth and the next child's pattern of attachment and explores factors in the mother which may be associated with and which may explain the pattern of infant attachment. We examined 53 infants next-born after a stillbirth, and 53 control infants of primigravid mothers. Maternal demographic, psychiatric, and attachment data were collected in pregnancy, and self-report measures of depression collected in the first year. Infant attachment patterns to the mothers were assessed when the infants were 12 months old using the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure. Infants next-born after stillbirth showed significant increase in disorganisation of attachment to the mother compared with control infants (p < .04). The difference was not accounted for by differences in psychiatric symptoms or demography. It was strongly predicted by maternal unresolved status with respect to loss as measured in the Adult Attachment Interview, and less strongly by maternal experience of elective termination of pregnancy and by the mother having seen her stillborn infant. The study adds weight to previously reported clinical observations, that infants born after stillbirth may be at risk of an increase in psychological and behavioural problems in later childhood. The strong association between disorganisation of infant attachment and maternal state of mind with respect to loss suggests that the mother's state of mind may be causal, and raises interesting questions about the mechanism of intergenerational transmission. Given the existing evidence of later developmental problems, longer-term follow-up of these children would be valuable.

Disorganized infant, child, and adult attachment: collapse in behavioral and attentional strategies.

This presentation focuses on the disorganized/disoriented (Group D) categories of infant, child, and adult attachment. The infant D category is assigned on the basis of interruptions and anomalies in organization and orientation observed during Ainsworth's strange situation procedure. In neurologically normal low-risk samples, D attachment is not substantially related to descriptions of infant temperament, and usually appears with respect to only one parent. At six, former D infants are often found to be role-inverting (D-Controlling) towards the parent, while drawings and separation-related narratives (D-Fearful) suggest continuing states of fear and disorganization. In adults, marked lapses in reasoning and discourse surrounding the discussion of loss or abuse during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) causes a transcript to be assigned to Unresolved/disorganized (U/d) adult attachment status, which predicts infant D attachment. Bowlby's theory is extended, with the proposal that certain forms of frightening parental behavior will arouse contradictory biologically channeled propensities to approach and to take flight from the parent. Maltreated infants are therefore highly likely to be disorganized. Also identified are subtler forms of frightening parental behavior (including dissociative behavior and anomalous forms of frightened behavior) that appear to lead to infant disorganization. This suggests that infant D attachment may at times represent a second-generation effect of the parent's own continuing unresolved responses to trauma. Infant D attachment predicts disruptive/aggressive and dissociative disorders in childhood and adolescence, while U/d adult attachment appears frequently in psychiatric and criminal populations. Clinical implications are discussed.

Attachment concerns of mothers as manifested in parental, spousal, and friendship relationships

AbstractThe present study examined the relation between attachment concerns of mothers and three of their close relationships: with their husband, best woman friend, and infant. Forty‐live mothers completed an Attachment Concerns Questionnaire based on the Hazan and Shaver attachment measure, and the Sharabany Intimacy scale regarding their relationships with their husband and with their same‐sex best friend; they were also observed with their infants (aged 14 to 22 months) in the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure. Mothers’attachment concerns were significantly correlated both to their infants’attachment classifications and to reunion scores in the Strange Situation procedure (e.g., concern with closeness was positively correlated with avoidance; fear of abandonment was positively correlated with avoidance and resistance). Intimacy with husband and best woman friend were also correlated with mothers’attachment concerns (e.g., concern with closeness was negatively correlated with intimacy with the husband and fear of abandonment was negatively correlated with intimacy with the best friend). The findings are discussed in terms of the concept of an internal working model of attachment, and, in light of the similarity and the modular hypotheses regarding the nature of relationships and concordance among relationships.

Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders and Early Attachment

The major aim of this research is to determine whether infants who were anxiously/resistantly attached in infancy develop more anxiety disorders during childhood and adolescence than infants who were securely attached. To test different theories of anxiety disorders, newborn temperament and maternal anxiety were included in multiple regression analyses. Infants participated in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure at 12 months of age. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children was administered to the 172 children when they reached 17.5 years of age. Maternal anxiety and infant temperament were assessed near the time of birth. The hypothesized relation between anxious/resistant attachment and later anxiety disorders was confirmed. No relations with maternal anxiety and the variables indexing temperament were discovered, except for a composite score of nurses' ratings designed to access "high reactivity," and the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale clusters of newborn range of state and inability to habituate to stimuli. Anxious/resistant attachment continued to significantly predict child/adolescent anxiety disorders, even when entered last, after maternal anxiety and temperament, in multiple regression analyses. The attachment relationship appears to play an important role in the development of anxiety disorders. Newborn temperament may also contribute.