A Brief Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire

  Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire short version   Instructions: When completing this questionnaire, please focus on one significant adult relationship. It does not necessarily need to be a romantic relationship, but must be the individual with whom you feel the most connection. Who is your primary “go to” person if you’re sick, in trouble, want […]

Patterns Of Adult Attachment

Attachment Styles of Adults Are Similar To Those Of Children In 1987 psychologists Cindy Hazen and Philip Shaver made the first attempt to identify three patterns of attachment in adult romantic relationships, projecting from the patterns described by Ainsworth for infants. They used questionnaires to identify relationship security and the ways individuals rely on their […]

Attachment Part 4: Infants and Beyond

The Long Term Influence of Attachment Patterns As children grow older the quality of their attachment to their parent influences how much they trust their parents. Parents are an important source of knowledge, advice and information for children and adolescents. Teens and older children are far more likely to rely on and trust parents when […]

The Development of Attachment in Infants, part 3

Infant Attachment part 3: Factors That Influence Attachment Quality of Caregiving The security of attachment is influenced by the quality of care an infant receives. For the most part: ♥ Secure infants have responsive, attuned caregivers Attuned parents are sensitive to their child’s signals. During infancy these parents respond, but do not lead or overwhelm. […]

The Development of Attachment in Infants, part 2

Attachment in Infants Part 2: Studying Attachment: How the Attachment Styles were Identified In 1978 Mary Ainsworth, who had been a student of Bowlby’s, designed a playroom in a laboratory setting that can be used to evaluate the quality of children’s attachments to their mother or other main caregiver. The procedure is known as “the […]

The Development of Attachment in Infants, part 1

Overview Attachment refers to the special feeling of connection older infants come to have for a particular person who cares for them. The deep sense of love and commitment that parents feel for their infant is called a “bond.” You may want to read our introductory article on attachment and how developmental scientists have come […]

Attachment: A basic part of who we are

Background The idea of attachment emerged in the 1930s and 1940s when British psychotherapist John Bowlby began to study the behavior of young children who were separated from their parents. He observed children in two situations: little children who were hospitalized for extended periods and little children who were sent away temporarily by their families […]