Dimensionality and Psychometric Properties of a New Child Attachment Assessment Instrument
- José Javier Moya Arroyo 1
- Miguel Ángel Carrasco 1
- Purificación Sierra García 1
- 1 Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, España
ISSN: 1578-908X
Year of publication: 2018
Volume: 15
Issue: 1
Pages: 25-38
Type: Article
More publications in: Acción psicológica
Abstract
The Children Attachment Interview (EAN) is a new instrument based on story telling reports. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the structure and basic psychometric properties of the EAN through exploratory factor analyses based on a sample of 115 Spanish children aged 8 to 13 years (63 % boys). Another two matched samples from the risk social population and clinical population were compared with the main sample in order to obtain criterial validity. Findings reveal a multi-internal structure composed of four factors that refer to children´s reactions (positive, trustful, negative and mistrustful) and five factors that refer to child-attachment figure interactions (empathic, trustful, positive, rivalry and pro-arousal). Scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency. The comparison of scales between general and criterial groups, and correlations with related constructs indicate good construct validity.
Bibliographic References
- Achenbach, T. M. & Edelbrock, C. (1993). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT.: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
- Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Oxford: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 2: Separation. New York: Basic Books.
- Cattell, R. B. (1966). Handbook of Multivariate experimental psychology. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.
- Diener, M. & Kim, D. Y. (2004). Maternal and child Predictors of Children’s social competence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2003.11.006
- Finzi, R. Cohen, O., Sapir, Y., & Weizman, A. (2000). Attachment Styles in maltreated children: a comparative study. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 31, 113-128. https://doi.org/ 10.1023/a:1001944509409
- Fraley, R. C. & Spieker, S. J. (2003). Are Infant Attachment Patterns Continuously or Categorically Distributed? A Taxometric Analysis of Strange Situation Behavior. Developmental Psychology, 39, 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.39.3.387
- Gracia, E., Lila, M., & Musitu, G. (2005). Rechazo parental y ajuste psicológico y social de los hijos [Parental Rejection and Children's Psychological and Social Adjustment]. Salud Mental, 28, 73-81.
- Granot, D. & Mayseless, O. (2001). Attachment Security and Adjustment to School in Middle Childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 530-541. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250042000366
- IBM Corp. (2011). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 19.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.
- Kaiser, H. F. (1961). A note on Guttman´s Lower Bound for the Number of Common Factors. British Journal of Statistical Psychology, 14, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8317.1961.tb00061.x
- Kerns, K., Tomich, P., Aspelmeier, K., & Contreras, J. (2000). Attachment-Based Assessment of Parent-child Relationxhips in Middle Childhood. Developmental Psychology, 36, 614-626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.614
- Moore, T. E. & Pepler, D. J. (2006). Wounding words: Maternal verbal aggression and children’s adjustment. Journal of Family Violence, 21, 89-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-005-9007-x
- Nowacki, K. & Schoelmerich, A. (2010). Growing up in Foster Families or Institutions: Attachment Representation and Psychological Adjustment of Young Adults. Attachment & Human Development, 12, 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2010.504547
- Picard, O., Allsopp, G., & Campbell, L. (2012). Foundation Programme. 250 SJTs (Situational Judgement Test Questions) for foundation year entry. London, UK: ISC Medical.
- Rohner, R. P. (2005). Parental acceptance-rejection questionnaire (PARQ): Test Manual. In R. P. Rohner & A. Khaleque (Eds.), Handbook for the study of parental acceptance and rejection (4th ed., pp. 43-106). Storrs, CT: Rohner Research Publications.
- Sierra, P., Carrasco, M. A., Moya, J. J., & Del Valle, C. (2009, October). The children attachment interview by evocative stories supported with pictures. Exploratory study of a new method to assess attachment in children. International Attachment Network. IAN Iberoamericana, Madrid, Spain.
- Sierra, P., Carrasco, M. A., Moya, J. J., & Del Valle, C. (2011). Entrevista de Apego para Niños (EAN). Un estudio exploratorio de un nuevo instrumento de evaluación del apego en niños de 3 a 7 años [Child Attachment Interview (EAN): Exploratory study of a New Method to Assess Attachment in Children from 3 to 7 years]. Acción Psicológica, 8(2), 39-53. https://doi.org/10.5944/ap.8.2.189
- Target, M., Fonagy, P., & Schmueli-Goetz, Y. (2003). Attachment Representations in School-Age Children: The Development of the Child Attachment Interview (CAI). Journal of Child Psychotherapy 29, 171-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/0075417031000138433
- Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. & Kroonenberg, P. M. (1988). Cross-cultural Patterns of Attachment: A Meta-Analyses of Strange Situation. Child Development, 59, 147-156. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1988.tb03202.x