A study of the relationship between childhood attachment type and adult attachment style

this article examines the relationships between the perception of childhood experience of relationships with parents and attachment styles in adult relationships. The phenomenon of attachment is considered, the direction studying romantic love as a process of attachment is designated. Methodology and methods. The sample consisted of 127 participants, 74 of whom were university students, the remaining participants were employed. The participants were aged from 18 to 39 years. Data collection involved the use of a combination of methods, covering online surveys via Google Forms and distribution of printed copies of questionnaires among participants. The study used a set of methods: a questionnaire with demographic characteristics of the subjects; a modification of the test "Questionnaire on attachment to parents for older adolescents (M.V. Yaremchuk)" for adults; the technique "Experience of close relationships scale (ECR-R)"; checklist of adjectives to describe their parents as participants remember them from childhood (C. Hazan and P. Shaver), translated into Russian. Results. It has been shown that the attachment style in adulthood is associated with the type of attachment to the mother and father. However, this connection is not rigid and can vary. A reliable stable connection between the attachment style of adults and the type of attachment in childhood occurs with the same type of attachment to the father and mother. The reasons for the change in the attachment style of adults require additional research. It has been revealed that depending on the type of childhood attachment, there will be a differentiation in the attitude towards the father and mother. Participants with a secure attachment style used more positive adjectives to describe their mother and father. In the case of insecure attachment, especially with an avoidant-fearful type of attachment, participants use significantly more negative adjectives to describe their parents. Conclusion. The adult attachment model is included in a single human motivational system, which is quite stable, but tends to change under the influence of events. The relationship between the type of attachment to parents in childhood and the style of attachment in adulthood has a relationship that is more pronounced in a situation of unity of the type of attachment to both parents and less stable in a situation of difference in the type of attachment to the mother and father.

attachment in adulthood, type of attachment to mother and father, secure attachment, insecure attachment, emotional assessment of parents