An<unk>  is a coherent group of ideas that attempt to explain attachment, the almost universal human tendency to prefer certain familiar companions over other people, especially when ill, injured, or distressed. Historically, certain social preferences, like those of parents for their children, were explained by reference to instinct, or the moral worth of the individual.  Psychological<unk> es about attachment were suggested from the late nineteenth century onward. Current<unk>  originated in the work of John Bowlby and focuses on social experiences in early childhood as the source of attachment in childhood and in later life. Although some of his ideas have been reworked or reinterpreted, the term<unk> " is now almost invariably used to refer to the<unk>  developed by Bowlby, and this article will follow that usage.<unk> , as originating in the work of John Bowlby, is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological<unk>  that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for discussion of interpersonal relationships between human beings. In infants, behavior associated with attachment is primarily a process of proximity seeking to an identified attachment figure in situations of perceived distress or alarm, for the purpose of survival. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about six months to two years of age. During the later part of this period, children begin to use attachment figures (familiar people) as a ' 'secure base' 'to explore from and return to. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to 'internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships. The human infant is considered by<unk> sts to have a need for a secure relationship with adult caregivers, without which normal social and emotional development will not occur. However, different relationship experiences can lead to different developmental outcomes. Mary Ainsworth developed a<unk>  of a number of attachment styles in infants in which distinct characteristics were identified known as secure attachment, avoidant attachment, anxious attachment and, later, disorganized attachment.
Other<unk> sts subsequently extended<unk>  to adults. Methods exist for measurement of attachment styles in both older infants and adults, although measurement in middle childhood is problematic. In addition to care-seeking by children, peer relationships of all ages, romantic and sexual attraction, and responses to the care needs of infants or sick or elderly adults may be construed as including some components of attachment behavior.
Bowlby explored a range of fields including evolution by natural selection, object relations<unk>  (psychoanalysis), control systems<unk> , evolutionary biology and the fields of ethology and cognitive psychology, in order to formulate a comprehensive<unk>  of the nature of early attachments. The main tenets of<unk> , incorporating thinking from many fields, were presented to the British Psychoanalytic Society in London in three papers: The Nature of the Child’s Tie to His Mother (1958), Separation Anxiety (1960a), and Grief and Mourning in Infancy and Early Childhood (1960b). At about the same time, Bowlby's former colleague, Mary Ainsworth was completing extensive observational studies on the nature of infant attachments in Uganda with Bowlby's ethological<unk> es in mind. Mary Ainsworth's innovative methodology and comprehensive observational studies informed much of the<unk> , expanded its concepts and enabled some of its tenets to be empirically tested.<unk>  was finally presented in 1969 in Attachment the first volume of the Attachment and Loss trilogy. The second and third volumes, Separation: Anxiety and Anger and Loss: Sadness and Depression followed in 1972 and 1980 respectively. Attachment was revised in 1982 to incorporate more recent research.
Although in the early days Bowlby was criticised by academic psychologists and ostracised by the psychoanalytic community,<unk>  has become the dominant approach to understanding early social development and given rise to a great surge of empirical research into the formation of children's close relationships. There have been significant modifications as a result of empirical research but attachment concepts have become generally accepted. Criticism of<unk>  has been sporadic, some of it relating to an early precursor hypothesis called "maternal deprivation", published in 1951. There has considerable criticism from a variety of disciplines, notably psychoanalysis, and from ethologists in the 1970s. More recent criticism relates to the complexity of social relationships within family settings , and the limitations of discrete styles for classifications  A number of treatment approaches, some currently in the process of being evaluated, are based on applications of<unk> .
Attachment theory
Chaos theory
Affect control theory
Evolutionary approaches to depression
Analytical psychology
Cross-cultural psychiatry
Affective neuroscience
Attachment parenting