The Experiences of Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) and sociodemographic differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance
Abstract
Objectives. Attachment experience and behaviours adopted during childhood and their manifestation in adulthood are related to mental and physical health.
The Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire was used to detect attachment style. The aim of the study was to explore the psychometric properties of the reworked Czech translation of the ECR-R (Prožívání blízkých vztahů) with reformulated problematic items and to compare it with the shortened version, the ECR-R-16.
The other aim was to assess the sociodemographic differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance in different population groups. Sample and settings.
A cross-sectional study on a representative sample of the adult population of the Czech Republic (N=1800, age 46.4, SD 17.4, 48.7% of men) collected data on the ECRR questionnaire. Results.
The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that the short version ECR-R-16 is more appropriate and has a clear two-factor solution with great reliability at the scale of attachment anxiety (α=.91) and attachment avoidance (α=.91). Confirmatory analysis showed a better fit with the data after excluding the two items with the lowest h2 communalities (ECR-R-14).
The convergent validity of the ECR-R-16 with the Relationships questionnaire was confirmed.The demographic differences in various groups are described. Summary.
The ECR-R and the ECR-R-16 questionnaires are appropriate for the research of the attachment in adults and for the clinical purposes. Limitations.
When comparing with other studies, it is necessary to take into account that the "face to face" method was used. Even in adolescents (age 15 to 19, N=97) the adult ECR-R variant was used.