Development and Validation of A Brief Scale to Assess Attachment in Adults: Psychometric Analysis in Latin America

Abstract

Assessment of the adult attachment in the Latin American context as a research line is not yet solved. This study has the aim to present the results of the development and validation of a scale to assess the adult attachment. The sample was composed of 1563 participants aged between 17 and 33 years from Chile and Ecuador. This scale was formed by 14 items, which allowed the assessment of secure attachment, avoidant attachment, and ambivalent attachment. Results are as following: (a) the scale presented an adequate internal consistency for secure attachment α=.73 and ω=.82, avoidant α=.58 and ω=.70, and ambivalent α=.69 and ω=.73; (b) adequate convergent validity with sense of coherence (r=.34 and .43, p=< .001); (c) the exploratory factor analysis kept up the items’ organization developed KMO=.77, x2=4133.91, p=<.001; and, (d) the confirmatory factor analysis presented a good fit with three items for each attachment type x2(24)=136.28, p=<.001, CFI=.95, RMSEA=.05(.04–.06), SRMR=.03. Findings of psychometric properties are discussed, highlighting the contribution of this scale in the Latin American context and its relationship with previous research. © 2020 Fundacion para la difusion neurologica en Ecuador - FUNDINE. All rights reserved.