Attachment Styles In Attachmenthood

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The topic of attachment styles is important when talking about infants, and how they will become later in their adult life. An attachment style is developed on how the mother or guardian treats their infant child. There are 4 main attachments styles that an infant can develop and they are, secure, Ambivalent, avoidant, and disengaged. For this particular paper, I wanted to focus on how an infant develops a secure attachment to their mothers. With secure attachment styles, the child feels confident that the mother will be there for them in time of need. This usually has to do with how the mother treats their child, and how much attention is given to the infant. Overall I wanted to get an in-depth explanation on how and why an infant develops
In order for an infant to have a secure attachment to their mothers, they must have a healthy balance between the four characteristics and they are proximity maintenance, safe haven, safe base, and separation distress. With proximity maintenance, when the mother shows that they will comfort the baby at any time, then it will increase the chances of the infant wanting to be near the mother. If the infant becomes scared of freighted by anything if they believe they have a safe haven, then the will seek comfort from their mother. With the safe base aspect, when the infant explores a new environment they feel comfortable doing so because their mother acts as the safe base if something goes wrong. Usually, if the mother is absent for a certain amount of time the infant will feel some sort of separation distress. If the Infant has a secure attachment, they will not be distress for a long time because they know that the mother will come
Mary Ainsworth created the strange situation assessment to see what type of attachment style a number of infants had. A short description of the assessment involves the mother and infant playing and exploring the room. After a short period, a stranger will walk into the room and talk to the mother. The stranger walking into the room is a sign to the mother to leave the room. How the infant reacts to the mother leaving is what determines what attachment style they have. An extensive amount of research done has backed up Ainsworth’s assessment, and the attachment styles can be a predictor of how the infant will be in their later years. During the Strange Situation Assessment, if an infant has a secure attachment then they will first be distraught that the mother left. While being left with the stranger, they will slowly warm up to them and begin to play again. When the mother returns, the infant will greet them with open arms and will gladly seek comfort from

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