Focus area: Attachment

Overview: The ECR-R measures individuals on two subscales of attachment: Avoidance and Anxiety. In general Avoidant individuals find discomfort with intimacy and seek independence, whereas Anxious individuals tend to fear rejection and abandonment.

Total number of items:  Thirty six

Administration: Self-report

Standardized cadence: Weekly

Estimated completion time: Ten to fifteen minutes

Supported subscales: Avoidant Attachment and Anxious Attachment

Age range: 18+

Scoring and interpretation: A composite score, as well as two subscale scores, can be used to track changes in attachment styles over time.

Reliability/Validity: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have shown the expected bi-factorial (anxiety/avoidance) structure and a close correspondence between factors and scales. Test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities have been identified as adequate to good. Correlations with the Relationship Questionnaire, a categorical measure of attachment, and with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale were consistent with the theoretical relations among the constructs.

Additional information: "A central tenet of attachment theory is that a person's attachment pattern in adulthood is a reflection of his or her attachment history—-beginning with the person's earliest attachment relationships. However, the precise way in which early representations might shape adult attachment patterns is ambiguous, and different perspectives on this issue have evolved in the literature. According to the prototype perspective, representations of early experiences are retained over time and continue to play an influential role in attachment behavior throughout the life course. In contrast, the revisionist perspective holds that early representations are subject to modification on the basis of new experiences and therefore may or may not reflect patterns of attachment later in life. In this article, I explore and test mathematical models of each of these theoretical processes on the basis of longitudinal data obtained from meta-analysis. Results indicate that attachment security is moderately stable across the first 19 years of life."

From:

Chris Fraley, R. (2002). Attachment Stability From Infancy to Adulthood: Meta-Analysis and Dynamic Modeling of Developmental Mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(2), 123–151. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0602_03