Five Scales in Search of a Construct: Exploring Continued Attachment to Parents in College Students

Abstract

The multitude of measures and differences across self-report indices of continued parental attachment raise questions regarding the validity and meaning of these scales. The purpose of this study was to examine the convergent and construct validity of 5 measures of continued parental attachment. Five attachment scales and 6 personality scales were administered to 216 undergraduate students. Factor analyses and correlational analyses indicate that the 5 attachment measures differentiate healthy from pathological bonding with parents, the construct being assessed has multiple dimensions, and scores on these attachment measures are correlated with personify variables as would be expected. These attachment scales appear to assess a construct that is related to attachment, although they may be more illustrative of the general affective quality of relationships. Subsequent assessment efforts should employ more specific ratings and measure concrete behavioral manifestations of attachment to most effectively examine the construct.