Mary Main

Mary Main (born 1943) is a researcher at University of California, Berkeley who, with colleagues, identified and empiricized a fourth attachment style in children, namely an insecure disorganized attachment style. It can be characterized by a lack of a coherent 'organized' behavioral strategy for dealing with the stresses during the Strange Situation Protocol.^[1][2]

There is a growing body of research on the links between abnormal parenting, disorganized attachment and risks for later psychopathologies.^[3] Abuse is associated with disorganized attachment.^[4][5] The disorganized style is a risk factor for a range of psychological disorders although it is not in itself considered an attachment disorder under the current classification.^[6][7]

Further reading

• Main, M., Hesse, E., & Kaplan, N. (2005). Predictability of attachment behaviour and representational processes at 1, 6, and 18 years of age: The Berkeley Longitudinal Study. In K.E. Grossmann, K. Grossmann & E. Waters (Eds.), Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood. pp. 245–304. New York: Guilford Press.
• Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M.T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti & E.M. Cummings, Attachment during the preschool years: Theory, research and intervention. pp. 121–160. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

References

1. ^ Main M, Solomon J (1986). "Discovery of an insecure disoriented attachment pattern: procedures, findings and implications for the classification of behavior". In Brazelton T, Youngman M. Affective Development in Infancy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. ISBN 0893913456. 
2. ^ Main, M & Solomon, J., (1990). In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, M. (Eds.),. Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121-160). The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
3. ^ Zeanah CH, Keyes A, Settles L (2003). "Attachment relationship experiences and childhood psychopathology". Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1008: 22–30. doi:10.1196/annals.1301.003. PMID 14998869. 
4. ^ Van IJzendoorn M. H., Schuengel C., Bakermans Kranenburg M. J. (1999). Disorganized attachment in early childhood: Meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 225-249.
5. ^ Carlson, V.; Cicchetti, D.; Barnett, D.; Braunwald, K. (1989). "Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants". Developmental Psychology 25: 525–531. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.25.4.525. 
6. ^ Lyons-Ruth K, Jacobvitz C (1999) "Attachment Disorganization: Unresolved Loss, Relational Violence, and Lapses in Behavioral and Attentional Strategies". In Cassidy J and Shaver PR (Eds.) Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications. pp. 89—111. Guilford Press ISBN 1-57230-087-6.
7. ^ Lyons-Ruth K, Yellin C, Helnick S, Atwood G (2005). "Expanding the concept of unresolved mental states: Hostile/Helpless states of mind on the Adult Attachment Interview are associated with disrupted mother-infant communication and infant disorganization". Dev Psychopathol 17: 1–23. doi:10.1017/S0954579405050017. PMC 1857275. PMID 15971757. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1857275. 

Persondata
Name	Main, Mary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death