Secure

Avoidant
Disorganised
Ambivalent
.

Attachment

Previously, it was often assumed children were quite resilient in the face of traumatic events. However,
research is now providing growing evidence of long-term impacts on mental health as a result of
experiencing neglect, abuse, severe loss or extreme frightening experiences. It is estimated of those with a
mental health disorder, between one half to two thirds experienced trauma in childhood.

Experiences in childhood that leave people vulnerable to complex trauma include:

 Domestic violence
 All types of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual)
 Institutionalisation/Care outside the home (particularly where inconsistent and multiple placements
occur)
 Parent has a mental or physical illness
 Neglect/abandonment
 Child has a chronic health problem
 Death of a parent in childhood
 Natural disasters/wars

Attachment
Common to all these groups is the disruption to the child’s first attachment to a primary caregiver. This
initial primary caretaker role is generally filled by the mother but can be taken on by another caring adult.
This first relationship is important in developing internal models of the world, regulating emotions,
establishing expectations and creating beliefs about oneself and one’s relationships.

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Four types of childhood attachment have been identified.

 Secure
 Avoidant
 Ambivalent
 Disorganised

Where a child’s relationship with the primary caregiver is nurturing, safe and highly attuned the child
develops a secure attachment. Trust and a healthy sense of self is fostered within this relationship, where
needs for love, care and safety are met sensitively by the parent. However, when these needs are not
consistently met for the child, attachment styles then become avoidant or ambivalent as the child attempts
different strategies in response to feeling threatened or frightened. Avoidant patterns, demonstrated in the
child’s behaviour as a lack of intimacy toward the parent, develop from distant and disengaged parental
caretaking. Alternatively, ambivalent attachment occurs with inconsistent parenting that alternates between
sensitivity and neglect. Children with ambivalent attachment, although seek closeness to their caretaker, will
not be soothed by their presence but instead show distressed, anxious and inconsolable behaviours.

However, the most damaging of all is where disorganized attachment occurs. Children who are confronted
with frightening situations involving their caretaker will react in a confused and disoriented manner. This
can include both where the caretaker is the instigator of the frightening situation, such as with abuse directed
toward the child by the parent, and where the child witnesses a frightening experience being directed toward
their caretaker, such as in domestic violence situations. Their desire to seek comfort is challenged by the fact
the caretaker is also the perpetrator of their frightening experience (as with direct abuse) or too distressed
themselves to help and comfort the child (as in domestic violence). As such, they are placed in a situation
where they seek comfort but must also defend themselves against the same person who is meant to provide
that comfort. Consequently, the child is left unable to develop a strategy for dealing with their conflicted
situation. The result is behavioural responses that include extreme vigilance, reactivity and arousal, and/or
submission, freezing and dissociation (disengagement from one’s feelings or environment).

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