Which term describes an infant who readily separates from the parent and actively avoids the parent upon reunion, and has difficulty trusting others?

Which term describes an infant who readily separates from the parent and actively avoids the parent upon reunion, and has difficulty trusting others?

• A. Anxious Resistant Attachment
• B. Play
• C. Anxious Avoidant Attachment
• D. Temperament

Answer: (C)

In attachment theory, patterns of how infants respond to separation and reunions with a caregiver reveal their attachment style. This scenario describes an infant who is quick to separate from the parent, shows little or no distress during separation, and, when the parent returns, actively avoids contact and has trouble trusting others. That combination points to Anxious Avoidant Attachment, where the child tends to keep emotionally distant from the caregiver and appears wary of close relationships, often as a result of inconsistent or unresponsive caregiving. Anxious Resistant Attachment would involve distress during separation and mixed signals at reunion (seeking closeness but then resisting it), which doesn’t match this pattern. Temperament is about inherent personality-like traits in infancy, not the specific response to caregiver separation and reunion. Play is not an attachment classification.

In attachment theory, patterns of how infants respond to separation and reunions with a caregiver reveal their attachment style. This scenario describes an infant who is quick to separate from the parent, shows little or no distress during separation, and, when the parent returns, actively avoids contact and has trouble trusting others. That combination points to Anxious Avoidant Attachment, where the child tends to keep emotionally distant from the caregiver and appears wary of close relationships, often as a result of inconsistent or unresponsive caregiving.

Anxious Resistant Attachment would involve distress during separation and mixed signals at reunion (seeking closeness but then resisting it), which doesn’t match this pattern. Temperament is about inherent personality-like traits in infancy, not the specific response to caregiver separation and reunion. Play is not an attachment classification.