Which attachment pattern is associated with conflicting or disoriented behavior toward the caregiver upon reunion?

Which attachment pattern is associated with conflicting or disoriented behavior toward the caregiver upon reunion?

• A. Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment
• B. Anxious-Resistant Attachment
• C. Anxious Avoidant Attachment
• D. Play

Answer: (A)

This item tests how attachment patterns reveal themselves when the caregiver returns. Disorganized/disoriented attachment is shown when the child lacks a coherent strategy for seeking comfort at reunion. The behavior can be mixed or contradictory: the child may approach the caregiver but then freeze, look away, or show confusing, disoriented actions. This reflects an internal confusion or fear about the caregiver, so the child’s responses don’t follow a single, organized pattern. In contrast, anxious-resistant attachment involves intense distress and clinginess with ambivalence toward the caregiver, and anxious-avoidant attachment involves avoidance and little visible distress. Play is not an attachment style—it's a broader behavior and doesn’t describe how the child organizes responses to the caregiver at reunion.

This item tests how attachment patterns reveal themselves when the caregiver returns. Disorganized/disoriented attachment is shown when the child lacks a coherent strategy for seeking comfort at reunion. The behavior can be mixed or contradictory: the child may approach the caregiver but then freeze, look away, or show confusing, disoriented actions. This reflects an internal confusion or fear about the caregiver, so the child’s responses don’t follow a single, organized pattern.

In contrast, anxious-resistant attachment involves intense distress and clinginess with ambivalence toward the caregiver, and anxious-avoidant attachment involves avoidance and little visible distress. Play is not an attachment style—it's a broader behavior and doesn’t describe how the child organizes responses to the caregiver at reunion.