Six attachment discourses: convergence, divergence and relay

Figures & data

Table 1. Typification of differences in conceptualisations of “attachment”

“Attachment”
Popular Discourses	The child’s love for a parent, predominantly the mother; it is often utilised to signal moral expectations on the parent.
Developmental Science	The use of a caregiving figure as a safe haven (as well as potentially a secure base) signalling the history of the caregiving relationship.
Social Psychological Science	Close relationships with emotion regulatory functions, signalling the extent of anxiety or avoidance an individual experiences in these relationships.
Psychotherapy	Close relationships with emotion regulatory functions, signalling the extent of individuals’ difficulties with relational and self-understanding.
Psychiatric Diagnosis	The disposition to discriminate and seek a familiar caregiver when alarmed, signalling the existence of an attachment relationship as the basis for mental health.
Child Welfare Practice	The relationship quality between the child and their caregiver, signalling the child’s best interest.

Table 2. Typification of differences in conceptualisations of “security”

“Security”
Popular Discourses	A good and confident psychological state, and is presented as a desired state for everyone.
Developmental Science	The perceived availability of a safe haven in one’s attachment figure(s) (“felt security”).
Social Psychological Science	The absence of attachment anxiety and avoidance.
Psychotherapy	The mechanism of good mental health in the therapeutic relationship, and in a client’s other interactions.
Child Welfare Practice	A good parent-child relationship, indexing a child’s best interest.

Table 3. Typification of differences in conceptualisations of “internal working model”

Internal Working Model
Developmental Science	Used variously to mean: Expectations about the availability of attachment figures built up on the basis of repeated sequences of procedural interaction. Elaborated symbolic meanings and images built up by humans about attachment figures and their availability. A synonym for attachment representations, as used by Main in the 1980s (but subsequently abandoned).
Social Psychological Science	The elaborated symbolic and affective representations made by humans about attachment figures and their availability, and the value of the self to these attachment figures.
Psychotherapy	Elaborated conscious and unconscious symbolic meanings and images held by humans about attachment figures and their availability, and considered to be malleable through therapy.

Table 4. Typification of differences in conceptualisations of “attachment-related trauma”

“Attachment-Related Trauma”
Popular Discourses	Separations and other disruptions of the “natural” family.
Developmental Science	Negative impact of adverse events like loss and abuse on an individual’s current psychological state, evidenced by disoriented, incoherent discussion of these events
Social Psychological Science	An adverse event presumed to be a predisposing factor or cause of attachment anxiety and avoidance and/or an adverse event made psychologically disruptive by preexisting attachment insecurity.
Psychotherapy	Any experience from family life that is chronically disruptive of an individual’s internal and external regulatory capabilities. Includes abuse and neglect from caregivers or other trusted adults. Sometimes also referred to as “developmental trauma”.
Psychiatric Diagnosis	DSM/ICD definition of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Child Welfare Practice	Experiences that compromise the health and development of a child, and occurring in the context of the parent-child relationship.

Table 5. Typification of differences in conceptualisations of “disorganisation”

“Disorganisation”
Developmental Science	Used variously to mean: Conflict, confusion and/or apprehension shown by an infant towards their caregiver in the Strange Situation. A significant disruption of a behavioural system. It is this (invisible) disruption at the level of motivation, which is presumed to cause the visible conflicted, confused or apprehensive behaviour seen, for instance, in the Strange Situation. A category label for infant-caregiver dyads seen in the Strange Situation, where conflicted, confused and/or apprehensive behaviour is seen to a significant degree. The category label for controlling-punitive and controlling-caregiving behaviour in the Main and Cassidy 6-year reunion system. The behaviour was generally smoothly sequenced, goal-oriented, and often resulted in some form of caregiver availability – so it was not technically disorganised at a behavioural level. However, Main and Cassidy used the term “disorganised” to signal developmental continuities from infancy, and to highlight that controlling-punitive and controlling-caregiving behaviour likely arises in the context of disruption to the child-caregiver relationship and its usual hierarchies. The psychological process indicated by unresolved loss and trauma in the Adult Attachment Interview.
Social Psychological Science	The co-presence of attachment anxiety and avoidance and/or random chaotic behaviour.
Psychotherapy	A mechanism underpinning the contribution of emotion dysregulation to mental ill health.
Child Welfare Practice	A bad parent-child relationship, indexing a failure to align with a child’s best interest.