title: Predicting change in self-reported and interviewer-assessed adult attachment: tests of the individual difference and life stress models of attachment change.
abstract: The study tested the key assumption of the individual difference model of adult attachment change: that people who have experienced certain vulnerability factors will be prone to change attachment styles because they have developed unclear models of self and others that render their attachment models unstable. This model was compared to a life stress model, which states that change occurs as an adaptation to new, interpersonally relevant life circumstances. Changes in self-reported and interviewer-assessed attachment were examined among 94 young adults who were followed over 1 year. Analyses yielded support for the individual difference model for change in both self-reported and interviewer-assessed attachment. The life stress model was supported for change in interviewer-assessed attachment only. Implications for differential change processes for self-reported versus interviewer-assessed aspects of adult attachment are discussed.
authors.affiliation: State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, USA. joanne.davila@stonybrook.edu
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davila
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Cobb
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology