Are adult attachment styles categorical or dimensional? A taxometric analysis of general and relationship-specific attachment orientations

Structure and Measurement Invariance of Adult Romantic Attachment

Romantic attachment is a popular theory for explaining affect, cognition, and behavior in romantic contexts. This popularity has led to a surge of self-report measures assessing dimensions of attachment. In this study, we considered the ability of 2 common attachment measures, the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) and the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R), to replicate the avoidant and anxious attachment factors. We also determined the degree of measurement invariance across, and mean differences between, genders and single and nonsingle individuals. Both the AAQ (N = 650) and the ECR-R (N = 1,271) successfully distinguished avoidant and attachment factors. The AAQ showed evidence for partial strong measurement invariance, whereas the ECR-R showed strict factorial invariance for both gender and relationship status. Gender differences were detected on both measures in a direction consistent with previous research, with males exhibiting higher levels of avoidant attachment (relative to females) and females exhibiting higher levels of anxious attachment (relative to males). Furthermore, when compared to individuals who were currently single, those in romantic relationships exhibited lower levels of avoidant tendencies. This research aligns with the notion that the AAQ and ECR-R reliably assess similar constructs, across genders and single and nonsingle individuals.