Differential attachment responses of male and female infants to frightening maternal behavior: Tend or befriend versus fight or flight?

Abstract

Taylor and colleagues (2000) proposed that males tend to display fight or flight responses to threat while females are more likely to display affiliative "tend or befriend" responses. In light of this hypothesis, gender differences in infant attachment behaviors were examined in a sample of 65 lowincome mother-infant dyads, half of whom were referred to a home-based intervention service because of concerns about the quality of caregiving. Attachment behaviors were assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation when infants were 18 months old, and maternal behaviors were coded both for frightened or frightening behaviors, using the Main and Hesse (1992) coding inventory, and for disrupted affective communication using the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification assessment tool (AMBIANCE; Lyons-Ruth, Bronfman, & Parsons, 1999). Results indicated that as maternal behavior became more frightening, female infants tended to approach their mothers more than male infants. These gender differences in response to maternal frightening behavior also were evident in the clinically referred subsample. The results suggest that gender-based differences in tendencies to show affiliative behaviors to threat may complicate interpretation of attachment behavior in clinical contexts.A large body of research on fearful arousal has documented the range of individual coping responses to pain or fear displayed by different individuals when exposed to severe stressors. These responses have been captured by the summary label "fight or flight" (e.g., Jansen, Nguyen, Karpitsky, Mettenleiter, & Loewy, 1995). In addition, Seligman (1975) and others described "freezing" and "learned helplessness" as responses occurring when more active coping responses are unavailable or ineffective.Interestingly, this entire array of coping or defensive responses appears in some form in the behaviors that are part of the disorganized/controlling spectrum of infant and child attachment behaviors, as can be seen in Table 1. For example, freezing, huddling on the floor, and other depressed behaviors are part of the coding criteria for disorganized behaviors, as are contradictory approach-avoidance behaviors that often mix angry resistance with very marked avoidant behaviors such as running away or hiding under a chair.

Attachment disorganization and controlling behavior in middle childhood: maternal and child precursors and correlates

“…More specifically, overall maternal disrupted communication predicted child punitive behavior, while maternal withdrawal in infancy predicted child caregiving behavior. The association between maternal withdrawal and child caregiving behavior is consistent with the prediction of Lyons-Ruth et al(2002) that infants of more withdrawn mothers would be more likely to develop caregiving behaviors, based on their continued attempts to approach their mothers in infancy (see David & Lyons-Ruth, 2005). Moss et al (2009) also observed that mothers of caregiving preschoolers often appeared quite passive and disengaged, showing a neutral or negative affective expression.…”

“…NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001). Alternately, David and Lyons-Ruth (2005) found that maternal withdrawal evoked approach behavior in infancy, so that some infants of very withdrawing parents were classified secure rather than disorganized. Therefore, disturbed attachment in infancy may be less likely to be detected in this subgroup (see Lyons-Ruth et al, 2002).…”

Singularidades de género nas representações de vinculação durante o período pré-escolar

“…Schoppe-Sullivan et al, 2006). Alertando para a necessidade de mais estudos neste domínio, diferenças de género tanto ao nível da incidên-cia das classificações de segurança e de insegurança (Barnett, Kidwell, & Leung, 1998), como ao nível dos comportamentos discretos exibidos na Situação Estranha (David & Lyons-Ruth, 2005) têm também sido registadas em estudos envolvendo populações de risco.…”

Exploring disorganized attachment style among Malay mothers in Malaysia: A study using the Attachment Style Interview

“…'Unresolved' loss or trauma in parents is linked to a mental representation in the child of the parent being "frightened" or "frightening", resulting in a disoriented child response . In this scenario, parents are a simultaneous source of fear and comfort (David & Lyons-Ruth, 2005). As consequences, as measured by the SST the infant utilizes a confused 'freeze' or erratic response in adaptation to threat of separationrather than the usual fight or flight coping strategies (Ayoub, Fischer, & O'Connor, 2003).…”