An insecure attachment style characterized by inconsistent, contradictory behaviors toward caregivers, often resulting from trauma or frightening caregiving experiences. Children show both approach and avoidance behaviors simultaneously.
Identified by Mary Main in the 1980s as an addition to Ainsworth's original three categories, combining 'disorganized' from Greek 'dis-' (apart) and 'organon' (tool, system) with 'attachment.' The term reflects the chaotic, contradictory behavioral patterns that don't fit other attachment categories.
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