Emotional regulation and child attachment representations

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Emotional regulation and child attachment
representations

• Raphaële Miljkovitch
• Paris-X University

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Emotion regulation in infancy
resort to parent
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Perceived danger
Anxiety
Attachment behaviors
Sensitive parental response
Non optimal parental response
Alleviated distress (secure attachment)
Persistent distress (insecure attachment)
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Secure attachement
danger
innate attachment behaviors
comfort protection from parent
security
Innate attachment strategies maintained
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Insecure attachment
danger
innate attachment behaviors ( primary 
strategies)
protection not obtained insecurity
modification of primary strategies
 secondary  strategies
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Secondary strategies
inhibition
behavioral attachment system
hyperactivation
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Disorganization
incapacity to develop a coherent attachment
strategy
conflict between approach and flight behaviors
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In the preschool years
Attachment strategies at the level of
representations
Assessment of attachment respresentations
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Attachment strategies at the level of
representations
Assessment of attachment respresentations
Separation Anxiety Test (Klagsbrun Bowlby, 1976)
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The parents are going on a trip for 2 weeks and
are leaving the child at home. How does the
little boy feel ? What is he going to do or say
? How do the parents feel ? What are they going
to do or say ?
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Attachment strategies at the level of
representations
Assessment of attachment respresentations
Separation Anxiety Test (Klagsbrun Bowlby,
1976) Attachment Story Completion Task
(Bretherton Ridgeway, 1990)
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birthday partyspilled juicehurt kneemonster in
bedroomparents departure
Attachment Story Completion Task
 show and tell me what happens next 
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Attachment strategies at the level of
representations
Assessment of attachment respresentations
Separation Anxiety Test (Klagsbrun Bowlby,
1976) Attachment Story Completion Task
(Bretherton Ridgeway, 1990) Puppet Interview
(Cassidy, 1988)
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Secure

• integrate negative and positive aspects
• Appropriate negative responses (not denial or
  avoidant responses)
• Admit flaws
• Relationships strong enough to tolerate stress
• Fewer interruptions
• Less passivity integrate negative aspects in a
  constructive way may even introduce frightening
  event and find a solution

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Avoidant

• Turn away from attachment-related information
• Avoid responding
• Not address topic or problem presented
• Narratives with affectless quality
• Stereotyped activities
• Avoid reunion with parents
• Fears about separations not expressed
• Claim self-reliance
• Describe themselves as  perfect 

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Ambivalent / Resistant

• Acknwledge attachment theme yet incapable of
  resolving problem
•  busy  during reunion episode (distracting,
  time consuming, irrelevant activities)
• More anger associated with separation/reunion

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Disorganized

• Incoherence
• Loss of control and destruction
• Unpredictable catastrophic events
• Helpless and non-assisted children
• Role-reversal
• Inhibition of play

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Processing of attachment- related information
Narratives
content of representational models of attachment
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Capacity to produce a coherent narrative
Reflects representational strategies in
regulating affect
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Externalizing problems
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Representational strategies of emotion regulation
prevent impulsive acting out (Fonagy Target,
1998 Slade, 1999) These strategies can be
inferred by collaboration and resolution during
play
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Externalizing problems

• themes of aggression or destruction (Solomon,
  George DeJong, 1995 Warren, Oppenheim Emde,
  1996 von Klitzing et al., 2000)
• frightened children (inhibition of play,
  themes of aggression, destruction, catastrophe,
  helplessness) (Solomon et al., 1995)
• lack of narrative coherence (von Klitzing et
  al., 2000)
• lack of positive representations of mother
  (Oppenheim, Emde, Warren, 1997)
• no emotion resolution (Oppenheim, 2003)
• lack of collaboration (Miljkovitch et al., in
  press)

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Internalizing problems
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• Bowlby (1973)
• expectation that attachment figure is
  non-available
• gt anxious disorders
• Beck (1967)
• negative vision of self and others
• gt depression
• Bowlby (1980)
• vision of self as unable to make and to
  maintain
• attachment relationships
• gt helplessness and hopelessness
• gt depression (Seligman, 1974)

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Internalizing problems

• lack of secure mother-child and father-child
  attachment (related to inhibition, withdrawal
  Verschueren Marcoen, 1999)
• lack of representations of supportive caregiving
  (Miljkovitch et al., in press)
• empathy attachment toward parent (Page
  Bretherton, 2001 divorced sample)
• bizarre/ambivalent (negative interactions
  alternated with harmonious interactions)
  (anxious/withdrawn)

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real life event
enactment (symbolic play)
no enactment
no resolution
resolution
persistant distress
alleviated distress
vulnerable to behavior problems
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