title: Stability of Attachment Style in Adolescence: An Empirical Test of Alternative Developmental Processes.
abstract: Few studies have examined stability and change in attachment during adolescence. This 5-year longitudinal study (a) examined whether prototype or revisionist developmental dynamics better characterized patterns of stability and change in adolescent attachment (at T1, N = 176; Mage= 14.0 years, SD = 0.9), (b) tested potential moderators of prototype-like attachment stability, and (c) compared attachment stability in adolescence to stability in adulthood. The results supported the prototype model, which assumes that there is a stable, enduring factor underlying stability and change in attachment. Exploratory moderation analyses revealed that family conflict, parental separation or divorce, minority status, and male sex might undermine the prototype-like stability of adolescent attachment. Stability of attachment was lower in adolescence relative to adulthood.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: R Chris
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fraley
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia.
authors.forename: Katherine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland.
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lejuez
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: Phillip R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Shaver
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland.
authors.forename: Jude
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cassidy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D041923:Adolescent Development; D002648:Child; D004243:Divorce / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D012737:Sex Factors