Mary Dinsmore Salter Ainsworth and the Strange Situation

Mary Dinsmore Salter Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Ainsworth conducted the first observational studies of mothers and children that were rooted in attachment theory, first in Uganda and later in Balti- more, Maryland. Through her careful field notes, she noticed important individual differences among in- fants. Most appeared soothed by their mothers, while others were not, and still others displayed little emo- tion to their mothers’ presence or absence. Ainsworth moved her work to the laboratory in order to assess the effect of maternal absence on infant exploratory behaviors. Her paradigm, called the Strange Situa- tion, is a thirty-minute procedure that consists of a se- ries of separations and reunions among a caregiver, a child, and a stranger. Ainsworth and her students identified three pat- terns of attachment that were particularly evident from children’s behavior in the reunion episodes with mothers. Most children displayed a pattern of attach- ment that Ainsworth and colleagues labeled ‘‘secure.’’ When their mothers were present, these children dis- played a balance between exploring the laboratory playroom and seeking proximity with their mothers. During separations, secure children displayed some distress as indicated, for example, by crying. When re- united, these children greeted their mothers warmly, often with hugs, and were easily soothed by them. Children classified as ‘‘insecure-ambivalent’’ dis- played few exploratory behaviors when their mothers were present, often clinging to them. These children were usually very upset during separations. When re- united, they displayed angry and resistant or ambiva- lent behaviors toward their mothers. For example, they would cry and raise their arms to be picked up and then push their mothers away while continuing to cry. Children classified as ‘‘insecure-avoidant’’ ex- plored the playroom when their mothers were pres- ent. Unlike other children, however, these children paid little attention to their mothers. In addition, these children were usually not upset during separa- tions and snubbed or avoided their mothers during reunions. Mary Main and Judith Solomon identified a fourth pattern of attachment, ‘‘insecure- disorganized,’’ characterized by extreme distress over separations and disorganized, disoriented, and con- fused behaviors during reunions. Specifically, these children displayed frozen postures, repetitive move- ments, and dazed facial expressions when reunited with their mothers. Overwhelmingly, the Strange Situation has be- come the preferred method of assessing attachment in infancy. There is, in fact, considerable evidence that security status in the Strange Situation is related to parenting behaviors, especially maternal sensitivi- ty, which can be defined as the mother’s ability to per- ceive an infant’s signals accurately and to respond promptly and appropriately. Children whose moth- ers are sensitive to their needs are likely to be classi- fied as secure. Children with avoidant patterns tend to have mothers who are either rejecting or intrusive and overstimulating. Children with ambivalent pat- terns tend to have mothers who are inconsistent in their parenting behaviors; for example, they may be sensitive and responsive some of the time but not al- ways, which makes it difficult for children to predict their behavior. Children with disorganized patterns tend to have mothers who have experienced loss, trauma, or mental illnesses. Although most of the research that has been con- ducted on patterns of attachment concerns infants’ relationships with their mothers, there is some work that has examined infants’ relationships with their fa- thers. There is no debate that children develop full- fledged attachment relationships with their fathers. In other words, it is clear that children can and do de- velop multiple attachment relationships. Little is known, however, about how children integrate the knowledge gained from multiple attachment models, especially when the models are different. Yet, there is some evidence for concordance across attachment figures—children who are securely attached to their mothers are also likely to be securely attached to their fathers. Concordance is best explained by shared par- enting values, although infant temperament has also been suggested as an explanation. 34 ATTACHMENTChild Care By the twenty-first century, most infants in the United States experienced some form of child care in their first year of life. This represented an enormous shift in how children in the United States were raised, a shift that led to concerns about whether infant child care disrupts mother-child attachment. Some have argued that infants experience daily separations as maternal rejection, which should lead to avoidance, while others have suggested that separations prevent mothers from having sufficient opportunities to de- velop sensitive caregiving styles. The results of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Devel- opment Study of Early Child Care, a study of more than 1,000 infants and their mothers, clearly demon- strated that neither security nor avoidance in the Strange Situation was associated with type of care, amount of care, or quality of care. Instead, security was associated with characteristics of mothering, such as sensitivity. Infants who experienced dual risks, for example poor quality child care and insensitive moth- ering, were at increased risk for developing insecure attachments. Thus, the effects of child care on attach- ment depend primarily on the nature of ongoing in- teractions between mothers and children.