In the Strange Situation Test, a 15-month-old child is upset and anxious when her mother leaves the room. When her mother returns, she cannot be comforted and shows anger, but also a desire for contact with her mother. The child is most likely to be categorized as

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This behavior is characteristic of the insecurely attached-anxious/ambivalent attachment style, where children show intense distress upon separation and ambivalence upon reunion, seeking and yet resisting contact.  This is one of the three categories of attachment recorded as a result of children's responses to the Strange Situation Test. Insecurely attached-anxious/ambivalent children become quite upset and anxious when the parent leaves the room. When they are reunited with the parent, they show anger and resistance to the parent but at the same time express a need for contact.

In the Strange Situation Test, a 15-Month-Old Child Is Upset