Avoidant Attachment — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ

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EasyPsychotherapyAvoidant AttachmentMRCPsych Paper B

During the Strange Situation Procedure, a 2-year-old child shows little overt distress when his mother leaves. When she returns, he avoids contact, does not seek proximity or comfort, and continues playing. Which attachment pattern is demonstrated?

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Correct answer: C — Avoidant (Type A)

This is an avoidant attachment pattern (Type A). The most discriminating feature is not simply the limited overt distress during separation, but the child’s avoidance of the caregiver and failure to seek proximity or comfort on reunion. Securely attached children seek and accept comfort before returning to exploration. Ambivalent/resistant children are usually markedly distressed and seek contact but also resist it or remain difficult to soothe. Disorganised attachment involves contradictory, apprehensive or disoriented behaviour, such as freezing or approaching with the head averted. Controlling-caregiving behaviour is more characteristic of an adaptation seen in older preschool children and is not the classic infant Strange Situation classification described here. An attachment pattern is not itself equivalent to an attachment disorder.

Reference: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Children’s attachment: attachment in children and young people who are adopted from care, in care or at high risk of going into care. NICE guideline NG26, full guideline, sections 2.3.1.2 and 2.4, 2015. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng26/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-78486774807