Attachment figures—such as this teacher—provide comfort to children in times of stress by offering a safe haven from situations that may
appear dangerous or unsettling. (Stephanie Maze/Corbis)
tle evidence for specific links between types of insecu-
rity and types of disorders. Instead, insecurity seems
to operate as a risk factor that is neither a necessary
nor a sufficient cause for disorders. Not surprisingly,
there is evidence that a secure attachment relation-
ship functions as a protective factor for children; in
other words, security may protect children from the
effects of other risk factors associated with psychopa-
thology, such as their own difficult temperaments.
The processes through which early attachment
relationships lead to later disorders are not well un-
derstood. Most theorists, however, believe that inter-
nal working models must moderate any link between
the two. Models characterized by anger, mistrust,
anxiety, and fear may lead children not only to be-
have aggressively but also to interpret the behaviors
of others, even kind behaviors, negatively. In fact, the
early memories of people with personality disorders
are characterized by marked distortions and inconsis-
tencies that reflect their negative attributions of
themselves and others. More research on internal
working models, especially with respect to their resis-
tance to change, could help direct future therapeutic
efforts with both children and adults.
Cross-Cultural Research
Because attachment theory is grounded in evolu-
tionary biology, one of its core assumptions is that
infant-caregiver attachment is a universal phenome-
non. This assumption is controversial. At the very
least, however, research from around the world sup-
ports the claim that all infants develop attachment re-
lationships, secure or insecure, with their primary
caregivers. Beyond this, there is considerable evi-
dence that the number of children who develop a se-
cure pattern of attachment is proportionately similar
across cultures. In African, Chinese, Israeli, Japanese,
Western European, and American cultures alike, most
children, about two-thirds, are securely attached to
their caregivers.
The proportion of children who are insecure-
avoidant or insecure-ambivalent, however, varies
across cultures. Consider that in Japan a higher pro-
portion of children are classified as ambivalent and a
lower proportion of children are classified as avoidant
than in Western European and American cultures.
Japanese infants, in fact, are more likely to be very
upset during separations from their caregivers and36 ATTACHMENT