Attachment from infancy to early adulthood : Continuity, predictability and their correlates

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The chief aim of this monograph is to examine the validity of two key assumptions of attachment in human development proposed by the traditional attachment theory: (1)continuity of attachment quality from infancy to adulthood ; and (2)predictability of attachment in future development.This monograph comprises three studies. Study 1 consists of five papers that examined theoretical issues related to these key assumptions. Study 2 examines the assumption of continuity using longitudinal data. Of an original cohort of 60, twenty-eight young adults, aged 19 to 20, who had been classified into attachment types by the Strange Situation Procedure when they were 12 months old and had consisted of 16 B-types, six C-types and six Inconsistent-C-types, agreed to be individually interviewed as to their present state of attachment by the AAI. Almost all of the participants were classified into secure types, the assumption of continuity was not supported by this data set. Study 3 examines the predictability assumption using the same set of data. Findings indicated that infant attachment type could not predict later development. Critical life events, such as divorce of the parents, high school dropout, or bullying in schools, were not directly related to their changes in attachment types from infancy to the present. Finally, emerging topics for future analysis of the data set and possibilities of new interpretations of the results are discussed.