Attachment in Late Adolescence: Working Models, Affect Regulation, and Representations of Self and Others
Conducted a research project using college students (26 male, 27 female. Mean age 18.2 years) to look for working model traits and regulation of affect. Attachment classification was determined using the Adult Attachment Interview which questions subjects about their attachment history.
N.B. There was a predominance of females in the preoccupied group which may have unbalanced results a little.
|
Secure |
Dismissing |
Preoccupied |
Proportions
(Adult Attachment Interview) |
53% |
32% |
15% |
Attachment History
(Self-Report) |
Low on idealization of parents. |
Low on being loved as children, less support from family. High on idealization of both parents. Difficulty in remembering early experiences. |
High role-reversal in childhood.Viewed families as more supportive than Dismissive group. Continuing efforts to gain support from parents. |
Personal Qualities
(Self-Report) |
High on loved and coherence. |
High on rejection and loneliness. Fewer symptoms of distress and higher social competence. |
Less coherent. Feelings of anxiety. |
Personal Qualities
(Peer-Report) |
Similar |
Rated higher than self-ratings on anxiety and hostility. |
Rated higher than self-ratings on anxiety. |
They concluded that differences between self and others and overall assessments of affective displays “ lend support to the notion of Working Models as an organisational construct associated with differing styles of affect regulation in distress-related contexts.” (p. 144)