A common misconception is that

of "Disordered Attachment", or
"Reactive Attachment Disorder",
in which attachment is seen to
have become inherently disordered,
or psychopathological.
There are two ways to understand
this misunderstanding.
The first is that attachment becomes
conflated with psychopathology,
such that emotional distress and
behavioural problems
are understood as attachment.
This is problematic, because it requires
attachment to be a single entity,
but we have already seen, how over
time, the attachment system matures
into an elaborate network of
multi-directional systems.
If attachment itself is disordered,
this implies a multi-system breakdown.
The second way to explain disordered
attachment is to think of attachment as
exclusively causal in psychopathology.
Bearing in mind that attachment
is an evolutionary system, and therefore
inherently adaptive to ensure survival,
it seems counter-intuitive
that attachment could
actually cause disorder.
Nonetheless, research shows that
people with an insecure attachment style
are overrepresented in
the clinical population,
and children with disorganized
attachment styles,
are at high risk of showing
behavioural problems in childhood.
So, does attachment cause psychopathology?
The problem lies in our
attribution of causality,
as this assumes a one-directional
relationship between attachment and
psychopathology, and the primary, or
even unique role that attachment has.
Nothing in psychology is ever this simple,
as we will now see with this.
So here we have attachment and
psychopathology and
the relationship between the two of them.
First of all, we have biological factors,
including genetic and
prenatal factors such as injury,
maternal alcohol use,
smoking, or drug use.
Then we have trauma and abuse,
which might be physical, sexual, or
emotional abuse, domestic violence,
severe neglect, or major loss.
We also have to consider the parents'
own experience of being parented and
the trauma, abuse, loss, or
positive experiences they may have had.
The parenting style
might be authoritarian,
authoritative, permissive.
Reciprocity and
autonomy are also important as well their
availability in communication style.
The infants personality or temperament
is also significant.
This includes their thinking style,
their mood, their preferences,
their interpersonal functioning.
And the unique x factor that
makes them just themselves.
And then we have the other direct
influences on psychopathology,
such as IQ or learning.
This might involve things
like a global learning or
intellectual disability, or specific
learning difficulties like dyslexia, or
simply access to
educational opportunities.
Poverty provides a very
significant chronic stressor and
is usually accompanied by
having fewer resources.
Contextual factors are also
important in the development of psychopathology,
in terms of somebody being in
the right place at the right time.
Age and stage can also influence
the development of psychopathology.
The adolescent period can be
a particular risk factor, but
throughout childhood transition points
present moments when children might be
more vulnerable to
developing difficulties.
Gender can also be a factor,
with boys more at risk of behavioural
problems during childhood.
Girls more at risk of internalizing
problems during adolescence.
And life events across the age span
are a risk factor for psychopathology.
And we need to consider both chronic
stressors and one-off traumatic events.
Therefore, we can see that the
relationship between these variables is
complicated, with some variables,
like biology,
trauma and abuse affecting attachment and
psychopathology directly.
Parenting history has
a direct influence on both
the developing attachment relationship and
on parenting style.
Parenting style will
influence personality and
temperament and is also influenced
by personality and temperament.
Parenting style has a direct
relationship with attachment and
personality temperament will also have
a direct relationship with attachment.
These both also have a direct
relationship with psychopathology.
And finally,
all those additional variables that also
increase the risk of psychopathology.
Once we look the relationship
between all of these variables, and
knowing that this is not a comprehensive
set of variables that we look at here,
the direct relationship
between attachment and
psychopathology becomes much weaker and
much more difficult to predict.
Therefore, there is a relationship
between attachment and
psychopathology, but
the relationship is complicated by all
the different variables that
interact with attachment, and
all the variables that contribute to
the development of psychopathology.
Furthermore, this diagram just imagines
the relationship at one moment in time,
and positions attachment
as a single entity.
Developmentally, the presence
of psychopathology along with
other developmental and non-developmental
factors will influence different aspects
of the attachment system, changing or
reinforcing different elements of it.
So, the relationship between attachment
and psychopathology is at least
bi-directional, not causal, and attachment
is not the sole cause of psychopathology.
This complicated relationship explains
a number of curious findings about
attachment and psychopathology,
which is explored in more depth in week
five, but also highlights the risks of
labelling emotional distress,
interpersonal difficulties, and
behavioural problems, and the various
factors implicated in their onset and
maintenance as, simply
"disordered attachment".
Instead, attachment is best understood
as a normative developmentally
sensitive system,
designed to ensure the continuation
of our species and
the individual through adaptation
based on prior learning.
This week I have introduced
you to attachment theory,
one of the most important
theories of child development.
We have seen its origins and
explored its current debates.
Hopefully, you have been able
to see that attachment is
fundamentally an evolutionary process,
something that occurs in all humans and
is a normal and
adaptive process that ensures survival and
psychosocial functioning
irrespective of whether emerging
attachment styles are secure or insecure.
Thank you.