What your Attachment Style Means and How it Affects the Developing Brain

By Andrew Monti

Attachment Theory

Humans are social animals, and it is in their nature to connect and communicate with others to form romantic and befriend relationships. Humans crave intimacy and bonding with the ones they love and enjoy being around. People display their affection and interests differently from one another in relationships, as there are four known attachment styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized (fearful-avoidant). This all relates to the attachment theory suggested by Bowlby’s attachment theory. John Bowlby (1909-1990) was a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who proposed a theory that all children are born with a biological component that makes one seek and desire connection to attachment figures. Bowlby suggested that children have this objective to ensure their safety and needs are met; protecting them from any potential dangers in their environment (Cherry, 2023).

Attachment Styles

As briefly mentioned, there are four main attachment styles that all have distinct characteristics, all falling into two categories of secureness: secure and insecure.

Secure

The secure attachment style is the most ideal as it is the healthiest and most common where individuals can make relationships both intimate and friendly (The Attachment Project, 2024). These people are in touch with their emotions and can freely express them to others. In addition, they make deep and meaningful connections to make long-lasting relationships and rely on individuals without fear.

Avoidant

Avoidant in one of the three insecure attachment styles as individuals with this tend to have trouble both initiating and maintaining long-lasting relationships, specifically intimate ones as their tolerance may be low for emotional and physical intimacy with people (The Attachment Project, 2024). They can seem to be very independent as their reliance/dependence on others may be viewed as being “weak”.

Anxious

Anxious is another attachment style that falls in the insecure realm as these individuals fear rejection or abandonment. It is not uncommon for people with this attachment style to have low self-esteem and clinginess in relationships. They may seek frequent reassurance to calm their anxious fears of abandonment.

Disorganized

Disorganized, an insecure attachment style shares characteristics of the anxious and avoidant groups. People with this attachment style are inconsistent with their emotions as they fear intimacy but want relationships. Some describe these individuals as having a “push and pull” force in intimate relationships, meaning they first crave intimacy and contact but once met with it, they are overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. They may push away despite originally wanting it.

How Attachment Manifests on the Brain

Throughout infancy and early childhood, the brain goes under major neuroplasticity. In other words, the brain experiences dramatic development and growth. During that stage of development, attachment style can influence how the brain matures, specifically cortical thickness and subcortical volume (Puhlmann et al., 2021). Researchers (Puhlmann et al., 2021) found that self-reported individuals with both anxious and avoidant attachment styles had decreased cortical thickness; avoidant individuals showed a similar pattern in prefrontal cortical areas as well as parts of the temporal lobe. Although anxious and avoidant individuals had decreased cortical thickness, avoidants showed greater cortical thickness than anxious individuals (Puhlmann et al., 2021). Cortical thickness refers to the width of the outer brain and can be used to indicate potential signs of neurodegenerative diseases (Cortical thickness). So, insecure attachment individuals are more susceptible to having lower cortical thickness which is critical for the trajectory of potential future development of neurodegenerative diseases. 

The amygdala is the human alarm system responsible for our flight and fight response in stressful situations. This critical function of the limbic system plays an important in attachment as it is the core of social processing and emotional learning (Admin, 2020). Since the amygdala processes external interactions, it examines every situation when acted upon; safety, danger, relationships, pleasure, and pain (Admin, 2020). And with that, any situation that has a significant impact on an individual can be stored as a long-term memory. So, early experiences in childhood can be learned and adjusted to that present throughout adult life, therefore backing up the attachment style originally forming in childhood.

References

Admin, H. (2020, May 26). Understanding how attachment affects the brain. Hand in Hand Family Mentorship. https://handinhandmentoring.org/understanding-how-attachment-affects-the-brain/ 

The Attachment Project. Attachment Project. (2024, November 25). https://www.attachmentproject.com/ 

Cherry, K. (2023, September 12). How John Bowlby influenced child psychology. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/john-bowlby-biography-1907-1990-2795514 

Cortical thickness. Cortical Thickness - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/cortical-thickness 

Puhlmann, L. M., Derome, M., Morosan, L., Kilicel, D., Vrtička, P., & Debbané, M. (2021). Longitudinal associations between self-reported attachment dimensions and neurostructural development from adolescence to early adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 25(1), 162–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2021.1993628