What is attachment? Definition and types of attachment

People often wonder to what extent the experiences we had in childhood, especially the ones we were able to sharing with our parents or other relevant figures, could condition our way of being and relating in life adult.

The human being comes to the world submerged in the most absolute vulnerability, since it takes several months to achieve a minimum autonomy. That is why we depend on others to survive, forging a necessary bond of attachment with our close environment.

These attachment figures will not only guarantee the resources necessary to survive, but also the essential ones. to live, as they will become the first source of love and understanding on which the child will place his expectations and longings.

That is why attachment contributes decisively to build the basic foundations of the private sense of security, in a critical age period for emotional and social maturation. Knowing him, then, is important to understand who we are and why.

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Attachment: what is it?

Attachment is a concept widely studied in the scientific literature, especially from the theories of John bowlby on building our first relationships during childhood.

As a term it refers to the particular way in which people tend to interact with those with whom they establish a relevant bond, including the feelings of intimacy and commitment upon which the subtle ties of a relationship are built human.

Attachment would be the pentagram on which the social melody would develop, and would sink its roots in the dawn of the first relationships. In the brief period that includes the childhood of any human being, the feeling of availability of the parents (or other people who could be comparable in affective terms) in the face of eventual harm or threat, would positively shape the vision of a changing environment in its very nature, to make it predictable and comfortable to be explored without fear inhibiting the curiosity.

Attachment theories maintain that the particular characteristics of the nervous system in this evolutionary period would lead to neuroplastic changes on which it would build a posteriori the adult brain, despite the fact that it is impossible to chisel memories that can be deliberately evoked (since the hippocampus matures after almost five years of life). Fear in this evolutionary period would turn vulnerability into helplessness, extending from now on to all corners of the subjective experience of the years to come.

With the purpose of evaluating the way in which children interact with their attachment figures, which is the measure from which it can be drawn information with which to determine the integrity of these links and their emotional consequences, Psychology has the procedure of "Strange situation". Through this technique the child is exposed to a structured sequence of encounters and misunderstandings with his primary caregiver and an unknown subject, evaluating their reactions to the approach and distancing of both of them.

Through the application of this strategy, four different styles of attachment have been determined, which describe particular modes of feeling and behavior that arise during the interaction. All of them play an essential role in understanding the way we tend to bond, not only in childhood, but also during the rest of the life cycle. Then we will stop to outline a brief description of each of them and its possible personal or social implications.

1. Secure attachment

Securely attached children perceive their parents (or their peers) as trustworthy figures, to which they can resort in the event that their inquiries about the environment accidentally imply a situation of potential danger. Children with this particular style tend to seek out their caregivers when they experience a difficult emotion, thus achieving relief from it. When parents disappear, they feel uncomfortable only at first, regain contact naturally when they return.

Adults with this attachment style experience a general sense of satisfaction in their relationships with others, being able to establish a relational framework that facilitates the healthy development of all involved. Honesty and trust rise up like the fabric with which the seams of friendship or friendship are embroidered. couple relationship, being able to establish a deep emotional bond with those who consider worthy of it. It is the most common form of attachment, and acts as a protective factor against psychopathology.

2. Worried or anxious attachment

Children who present this style of bonding with their parents do not have the security of having the help they might need in case of need. This uncertainty encourages interest in the environment to be conditioned by fear, in such a way that exploration is limited by a latent but constant insecurity. This feeling is exacerbated in those cases in which parents resort to the threat of abandonment as a mechanism to control disruptive behaviors.

Adults with this attachment style tend to avoid their emotions, considering that they could be overwhelmed due to its intensity, which makes it difficult to acquire essential resources for the regulation of experiences internal. Daily life is often experienced from an ambivalence between approximation and rejection, since both generate such a degree of discomfort that the person wanders in the swaying of the gray spaces that border between a and another. The fear of abandonment, and the feeling of inadequacy, can be recurrent.

The child with this attachment pattern perceives that any attempt to seek the comfort that her figure of care can provide will end in a situation of open mockery or contempt, which will also be followed by the total absence of protection and security along with a harmful feeling of helplessness learned. This circumstance contributes to the child trying to adopt a position of self-sufficiency, in an attempt to build scenarios in which to feel safe without the contribution of others.

In adulthood, this attachment style is characterized by the deliberate search for loneliness and discomfort in personal relationships. Independence acquires a capital importance, arising a cerval fear before the expectation of commitment with other people in the fields of friendship or the couple. The search for solitary jobs and a lack of interest in forging new relationships can also be common.

4. Disorganized attachment

Children who develop this particular style have experienced multiple situations with their explicitly threatening attachment figures, since they adopt a negligent or even abusive attitude (in the broad sense of the term). Because the infant cannot assume physical or emotional emancipation, he would necessarily remain close to the pernicious influence of their caregivers, showing anxious both in their presence and in their absence (chaotic and disorganized).

This attachment style generates deep traces in the personality and self-image, being for this reason the one that presents a closer relationship with the psychopathology of the adult and the child. Next, a brief review will be carried out on the available evidence regarding the Mental health consequences attributable to insecure attachment patterns (worried, fearful, and disorganized).

Attachment and mental health problems in adult life

There are several studies that aim to explore the possible relationship established between attachment in childhood and the development of psychological disorders during adult life. Still, the multiplicity of influences that converge to shape an individual makes it difficult to isolate with the role of these early interactions on health, despite the availability of numerous data that suggest such Connection.

There is scientific evidence that insecure attachments are associated with a higher prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders, as well as the clinical expression of symptoms obsessive-compulsive. The presence of jealousy within romantic relationships it is also more frequent among those who have a pattern insecure attachment, and is often rooted in an intimate sense of insecurity and fear of abandonment.

Other authors consider that the anxious attachment could suppose the germ of a later disorder of the structure of the personality, both of the cluster B (histrionic or borderline) and cluster C (dependent), while the avoidant would be related to the homonymous personality disorder (avoidant). In any case, difficulties in regulating emotional experience stand as the common factor underlying this extensive psychopathology.

The impact of the attachment style on mental health is a very topical topic in the field of scientific psychology, since it could be an explanatory element of tremendous value to understand the distal risk factors of many mental disorders that limit the quality of life of the population. It is an area in continuous expansion, of which we have only just begun to unravel its surface.

It is also important to consider that many studies point in the direction that attachment does not have to set itself up as a rigid and immutable reality, but can experience transformations during the development of life as a result of personal work and the establishment of relationships that provide spaces for repair emotional.

A child's mind harbors the potential to build a happy life. Despite the vulnerability that accompanies it at the time of its birth, the first years are elements to define who we will be and what paths we will travel in the hectic journey of the existence. The first social relationships are, in this sense, the key to channel development towards biological, social and emotional fulfillment.