Introduction to the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation: A Function-Based Approach to Understanding Developmental Psychopathology

• Clark Baim ^[1]
  1. [1] Family Relations Institute/IASA. EEUU
• Localización: Revista de psicoterapia, ISSN-e 2339-7950, ISSN 1130-5142, Vol. 36, Nº. 130, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: El Modelo Dinámico Maduracional del Apego, Avances y Aplicación en Psicoterapia), págs. 63-72
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Introducción al Modelo Dinámico-Maduracional del Apego y la Adaptación: un Enfoque Basado en Funciones para Comprender la Psicopatología del Desarrollo
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Este artículo presenta el Modelo Dinámico-Maduracional (DMM) de apego y adaptación (Crittenden, 2016; Crittenden y Landini, 2011; Crittenden et al., 2021), un modelo contemporáneo y bien investigado de apego que es particularmente relevante para los profesionales que trabajan con niños, adultos y familias en trabajo social, asistencia social, salud mental, cuidado infantil, acogida y adopción, justicia penal y entornos relacionados. Este artículo explica cómo la teoría del apego puede informar nuestra comprensión del comportamiento humano en situaciones de estrés, amenaza o peligro, y cómo comprender a las personas cuyo comportamiento es problemático o que pueden convertirse en un peligro para sí mismas o para los demás.

  • English

    This article introduces the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment and adaptation (Crittenden, 2016; Crittenden, & Landini, 2011; Crittenden et al., 2021), a contemporary and well-researched model of attachment that is particularly relevant to practitioners who work with children, adults and families in social work, social care, mental health, child care, fostering and adoption, criminal justice and related settings. This article explains how attachment theory can inform our understanding of human behaviour in situations of stress, threat or danger, and how to understand individuals whose behaviour is problematic or who may become a danger to themselves or others

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Ainsworth, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment. Clinical Psychologist, 38, 27-9.
  • Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Erlbaum.
  • Ainsworth, M., & Bowlby, J. (1991). An ethological approach to personality development.'
  • American Psychologist, 46(4), 333-341. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.46.4.333
  • Allam, J., & Baim, C. (2017). Understanding attachment strategies in adult men who have committed sexual offences: applications of the...
  • Baim, C., & Guthrie, L. (2014). Changing offending behaviour: A workbook of practical exercises. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  • Baim, C., & Morrison, T. (2023). Attachment-based practice with adults: Understanding strategies and promoting positive change (2nd ed.)....
  • Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: the secret life of the brain. Macmillan.
  • Bowlby, J. (1971). Attachment and loss. Volume 1: attachment. Pelican.
  • Bowlby, J. (1995). A secure base: clinical applications of attachment theory. Routledge. (Original work published in 1988)
  • Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Volume 3: Loss, sadness and depression. Basic Books.
  • Bowlby, J. (2000). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. Routledge. (Original work published in 1979)
  • Boyle, M., & Johnstone, L. (2020). A straight talking introduction to the power threat meaning framework: an alternative to psychiatric...
  • Cicchetti, D., & Valentino, K. (2015). An ecological-transactional perspective on chuld maltreatment: Failure of the average expectable...
  • Cozolino, L. (2002). The neuroscience of psychotherapy: Building and rebuilding the human brain. Norton.
  • Crittenden, P. M. (2002). If I knew then what I know now: integrity and fragmentation in the treatment of child abuse and neglect. In K. Browne,...
  • Crittenden, P. M., & Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1989). Child maltreatment and attachment theory. In D. Cicchetti, & V. Carlson (eds.), Handbook...
  • Crittenden, P. M., & Baim, C. (2017). Using assessment of attachment in child care proceedings to guide intervention. In L. Dixon, D....
  • Crittenden, P. M., & Claussen, A. (Eds.) (2000). The organization of attachment relationships: maturation, culture and context. Cambridge...
  • Crittenden, P. M., Farnfield, S., Spieker, S., Landini, A., Oxford, M., Robson, K., Johnson, H., Ellis, V., & Ash, Z. (2024). Alternatives...
  • Crittenden, P. M., Dallos, R, Landini, A., & Kozlowska, K. (2014). Attachment and Family Therapy. Open University Press.
  • Crittenden, P. M., & Landini, A. (2011). Assessing adult attachment: A dynamic-maturational approach to discourse analysis. Norton.
  • Crittenden, P. M., Landini, A., & Spieker, S. J. (2021a). Staying alive: A 21st century agenda for mental health, child protection and...
  • Crittenden, P. M., Landini, A., Spieker, S. J., & Grey, B. (2021b). Using parental attachment in family court proceedings: DMM theory...
  • Crittenden, P. M., & Spieker, S. J. (2023). The effects of separation from parents on children. IntechOpen.
  • Crittenden, P. M., Spieker, S. J., & Farnfield, S. (2021c). Turning points in the assessment and clinical applications of individual differences...
  • Dallos, R. (2006). Attachment narrative therapy. Open University.
  • Dallos, R., Crittenden, P. M., Landini, A., Spieker, S., & Vetere, A. (2019). Family functional formulations as guides to psychological...
  • Dallos, R., Crittenden, P. M., Landini, A., Spieker, S., & Vetere, A. (2020). Correction to: Family functional formulations as guides...
  • Dallos, R., & Vetere, A. (2021). Systemic Therapy and Attachment Narratives: Applications in a range of clinical settings (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • De Zulueta, F. (1993). From pain to violence: The traumatic roots of destructiveness. Whurr Publishers.
  • Duschinsky, R., Bakkum, L., Mannes, J. M. M., Skinner, G. C. M., Turner, M., Mann, A., Coughlan, B., Reijman, S., Foster, S., &Beckwith,...
  • Duschinsky, R., & White, K. (Eds.) (2020). Trauma and loss: Key texts from the John Bowlby archive. Routledge.
  • Eagleman, D. (2016). Incognito: The secret lives of the brain. Canongate.
  • Eagleman, D. (2020). Livewired: The inside story of the ever-changing brain. Vintage.
  • Engel, G. (1979). The biopsychosocial model and the education of health professionals. General Hospital Psychiatry, 1(2), 156-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-8343(79)90062-8
  • Farnfield, S., Hautamaki, A., Nørbech, P., & Sahhar, N. (2010). DMM assessments of attachment and adaptation: Procedures, validity and...
  • Fonagy, P. (2001). Attachment theory and psychoanalysis. Other Press.
  • George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1996). The adult attachment interview: interview protocol [Unpublished manuscript]. University of...
  • Gerhardt, S. (2004). Why love matters: How affection shapes a baby’s brain. Routledge.
  • Granqvist, P., Sroufe, L. A., Dozier, M., Hesse, E., Steele, M., van Ijzendoorn, M., Solomon, J., Schuengel, C., Fearon, P., Bakermans-Kranenburg,...
  • Hertzman, C. (2013). The significance of early childhood adversity. Paediatric Child Health, 18(3), 127-128. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/18.3.127
  • Howe, D. (2005). Child abuse and neglect: attachment, development and intervention. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Howe, D. (2011a). Attachment across the lifecourse: a brief introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Howe, D. (2011b). Foreword. In C. Baim, & T. Morrison (eds.), Attachment-based Practice with Adults (pp. nd.). Pavilion.
  • International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA). (2021). DMM Publications.
  • Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M. (2018). The power threat meaning framework: overview. British Psychological Society.
  • Keyes, K. M., Eaton, N. R., Krueger, R. F., McLaughlin, K. A., Wall, M. M., Grant, B. F., & Hasin, D. S. (2012). Childhood maltreatment...
  • Landa, S., & Duschinsky, R. (2013a). Letters from Ainsworth: Contesting the 'organization' of attachment. Journal of the Canadian...
  • Landa, S., & Duschinsky, R. (2013b). Crittenden’s dynamic–maturational model of attachment and adaptation. Review of General Psychology,...
  • Landini, A., Baim, C., Hart, M., & Landa, S. (2015). Danger, development and adaptation: Seminal writings of Patricia M. Crittenden on...
  • Main, M., Hesse, E., & Goldwyn, R. (2008). Studying differences in language usage in recounting attachment history: An introduction to...
  • Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganised/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation....
  • Maté, G. (2019). When the body says no: The cost of hidden stress. Vermillion.
  • McGoldrick, M., Gerson, R., & Shellenberger, S. (1999). Genograms: Assessment and intervention (2nd edition). New York: Norton.
  • McLaughlin, K. A., Greif, G. J., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2012). Childhood adversities and first...
  • Milaniak, I., & Widom, C. S. (2015). Does child abuse and neglect increase risk for perpetration of violence inside and outside the home?...
  • Panksepp, J. (2005). Affective neuroscience: the foundations of human and animal emotions (Series in Affective Science). Oxford Univeristy...
  • Perry, B. (2008). Child maltreatment: A neurodevelopmental perspective on the role of abuse in psychopathology. In T. Beauchaine, & S....
  • Pocock, D. (2010). The DMM – Wow! But how to handle its potential strength? Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 15(3) 303-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104510369457
  • Read, J., Mosher, L., & Bentall, R. (Eds.) (2004). Models of madness: Psychological, social and biological approaches to schizophrenia....
  • Rothschild, B. (2000). The body remembers: the psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. Norton.
  • Schore, A. (1994). Affect regulation and the origin of the self: The neurobiology of emotional development. Erlbaum.
  • Schore, A. N. (2003). Affect dysregulation and the disorders of the self. Norton.
  • Siegel, D. (1999). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. Guilford Press.
  • Spieker, S. J., Crittenden, P. M., Landini, A., & Grey, B. (2021). Using parental attachment in family court proceedings: an empirical...
  • Steele, H., & Steele, M. (eds). (2008). Clinical Applications of the Adult Attachment Interview. Guilford.
  • Thompson, A., & Raikes, H. (2003). Towards the next Quarter-Century: Conceptual and methodological challenges for attachment theory. Development...
  • van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: brain, mind and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
  • van der Kolk, B. (1996). Traumatic stress: the effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. Guilford.
  • Wallin, D. (2007). Attachment in Psychotherapy. Guilford.