Pathological attachment and attachment style in late adolescence

Attachment theory is frequently invoked to account for patterns of adaptation within relationships. West and Sheldon derived a measure of dysfunctional adult attachment from Bowlby's theory. Four patterns are identified: compulsive self-reliance; caregiving; care-seeking; and angry withdrawal....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescence (London, England.) England.), 2000-04, Vol.23 (2), p.137-155
Main Authors: LAPSLEY, DANIEL K., VARSHNEY, NICOLE M., AALSMA, MATTHEW C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attachment
Attachment style
Biological and medical sciences
Child psychology
Disorders
Evaluation
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Measures (Instruments)
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - psychology
Midwestern United States
Multivariate Analysis
Object Attachment
Personal relationships
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometric Analysis
Psychometrics - methods
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Regression Analysis
Relationship
Reproducibility of Results
Sex Factors
Social Adjustment
Techniques and methods
Teenagers
Validity
Young Adults
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Summary:Attachment theory is frequently invoked to account for patterns of adaptation within relationships. West and Sheldon derived a measure of dysfunctional adult attachment from Bowlby's theory. Four patterns are identified: compulsive self-reliance; caregiving; care-seeking; and angry withdrawal. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of this promising measure, and to assess its ability to predict symptomatology relative to measures of attachment style. Participants included 209 late adolescents who were involved in committed relationships. They responded to categorical and continuous measures of attachment style and various measures of symptomatology and college adjustment. The four dimensions of pathological attachment showed strong internal consistency and few gender differences. Compulsive care-seeking, angry withdrawal and compulsive self-reliance were particularly strong predictors of psychiatric symptomatology and insecure attachment style. Attachment pathology and insecure attachment style predicted symptomatology similarly, though variations were evident depending on how style was assessed. This study is the first to provide evidence of convergent, discriminant and predictive validity for this measure. Directions for future research are noted.
ISSN:0140-1971
1095-9254
DOI:10.1006/jado.2000.0304