Secure Attachment — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ

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EasyPsychotherapySecure AttachmentMRCPsych Paper B

During Ainsworth's Strange Situation procedure, an infant becomes distressed when the caregiver leaves, seeks proximity and is readily comforted when the caregiver returns, and then resumes exploration while using the caregiver as a secure base. Which attachment pattern does this demonstrate?

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Correct answer: C — Secure attachment

The answer is C, secure attachment (Ainsworth Type B). The discriminating features are distress following separation, active proximity-seeking and effective comforting at reunion, followed by a return to exploration using the caregiver as a secure base. In avoidant attachment, the infant shows little overt separation distress and tends to avoid or ignore the caregiver at reunion. In ambivalent/resistant attachment, separation distress is marked but the infant remains difficult to comfort and may combine proximity-seeking with resistance. Disorganised attachment involves contradictory, apprehensive or disoriented behaviour without a coherent attachment strategy. Anxious-preoccupied is principally an adult attachment representation rather than an infant Strange Situation classification.

Reference: Health Education England, Basic Psychology, Human Development & Social Psychology: Part 2—Human Development, Attachment Theory table, 2017. https://madeinheene.hee.nhs.uk/Portals/19/Part%202-Human%20development%20March%202017.pdf