Cited by 317Attachment and Relationship DynamicsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

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Meta-analytic evidence for stability in attachments from infancy to early adulthood

Pinquart, Martin, Feußner, Christina, Ahnert, Lieselotte·2013·Attachment & Human Development

DOI 10.1080/14616734.2013.746257

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Abstract

The present meta-analysis integrates results from 127 papers on attachment stability towards mothers and fathers, respectively, from infancy to early adulthood. More than twenty-one thousand attachments (n = 21,072) and 225 time intervals were explored, ranging from half a month to 29 years (348 months). An overall coefficient of r = .39 between times T1 and T2 was obtained, reflecting a medium-sized stability of attachment security. However, no significant stability was found in intervals larger than 15 years. Coefficients are higher for time intervals of less than two years compared to time spans of more than five years, if attachments were assessed beyond infancy using representational rather than behavioral measures and if normal middle class as opposed to at-risk samples were involved. Furthermore, securely attached children at risk were less likely to maintain attachment security whereas insecurely attached children at risk most likely maintained insecurity.

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“Such studies fail to demonstrate the causative role of attachment not only due to their cross-sectional design, but also since attachment patterns have been shown to lack stability particularly at intervals of more than 15 years (Pinquart et al., 2013).”
High Anxiety Attachment in Eating Disorders: Intergenerational Transmission by Mothers and Fathers
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“In this study, effect sizes for attachment stability to fathers ( k = 29; r = .46) and to mothers( k = 183; r = .37) were not significantly different, but a higher stability to fathers or mothers was found when studies used representational measures (through verbal responses) rather than observational measures such as…”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Concepts travel faster than thought: an empirical study of the use of attachment classifications in child protection investigations
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“Second, caregiver sensitivity and child attachment quality are both malleable in response to life events and changes in family support (Pinquart et al., 2013), and evidence-”
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The Association Between Parent–Child Attachment and Academic Adjustment: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis
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“This is because the stability of individual differences in attachment security decreases as the interval between assessments increases (Pinquart et al., 2013).”
Attachment to parents and friends and body dissatisfaction in adolescents with eating disorders
Herrero, I. L., Jáuregui‐Lobera, I., Barajas-Iglesias, B., Serrano‐Troncoso, E., Garcia‐Argibay, M., & Germán, M. Á. S. (2020) · Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1359104520962155 · Cited by 24
“A meta-analysis by Pinquart et al. (2013) concluded that although short-term stability may be relatively high, long term stability is quite weak.”
Background
Reliability and validity of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale‐12: Attachment dimensions in a clinical sample with eating disorders
Tasca, G. A., Brugnera, A., Baldwin, D., Carlucci, S., Compare, A., Balfour, L., Proulx, G., Gick, M. L., & Lafontaine, M. (2017) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.22807 · Cited by 20
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“Although changes in attachment can occur, often due to significant negative or positive life and relationship events (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015; Pinquart et al., 2013), drastic and rapid fluctuations in attachment are less likely.”
Background
Anxiety and defensiveness as predictors of maternal child-centrism
Kestler‐Peleg, M., & Lavenda, O. (2018) · Feminism & Psychology · doi:10.1177/0959353518757255 · Cited by 19
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“This teenager’s meta-representation of attachment may show discontinuity with his/her attachment patterns at earlier ages, showing more continuity with the (later) adult attachment (Pinquart et al., 2013).”
Background
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Personality Neuroscience
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Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptomatology Among Basque Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Attachment Representations
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“attachments and instability of secure attachments, with the trend between childhood and adolescence being toward insecure attachments (Muela, Balluerka, Torres-Gómez, & Gorostiaga, 2016; Pinquart et al., 2013).”
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“Longitudinal studies showed a moderate correlation between initial behavioral assessments of security with mothers and fathers and verbal measures assessed at a later point in time (Pinquart et al., 2013).”
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III. THE ORGANIZATION OF ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOR IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: LINKS WITH MATERNAL SENSITIVITY AND CHILD ATTACHMENT REPRESENTATIONS.
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“, 2020), meta-analytic results suggest that attachment is moderately stable across ages (Fraley, 2002; Pinquart et al., 2013).”
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Activating the attachment system modulates neural responses to threat in refugees with PTSD
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“close family) (Pinquart et al., 2013; Mikulincer and Shaver, 2016) and are associated with maladaptive responses to threat (Nash et al.”
Background
Childhood abuse and neglect are prospectively associated with scripted attachment representations in young adulthood
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Is middle childhood attachment related to social functioning in young adulthood?
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“, 2018), especially when they belong to at-risk groups (Pinquart et al., 2013).”
Background
Exploring the reciprocal relationships between adolescents' perceptions of parental and peer attachment and disordered eating: A multiwave cross‐lagged panel analysis
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“Moreover, attachment becomes more stable after toddlerhood (Pinquart et al., 2013), yet attachment security is usually measured in infancy or toddlerhood.”
Background
Genetic moderation of stability in attachment security from early childhood to age 18 years: A replication study.
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Concurrent parent–child relationship quality is associated with an imprinting-like effect in children's facial preferences
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Subclinical Psychopathic Traits and Romantic Attachment in Treatment‐Seeking Couples
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“Given that data on the stability of adult attachment has displayed a mixed picture (Feeney, 2016; Fraley, Vicary, Brumbaugh, & Roisman, 2011; Pinquart, Feubner, & Ahnertb, 2013) and highlighted that romantic attachment may change when challenged by adverse life events, such as negative relational experiences (Pinquart…”
Result
Shadows of the past – Hierarchical regression analyses on the role of childhood maltreatment experiences for postpartum depression
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Parent–Infant Attachment Insecurity and Emotional Eating in Adolescence: Mediation through Emotion Suppression and Alexithymia
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“The present longitudinal and prospective study thus importantly adds to the field, as longitudinal studies help to unravel cause-effect associations between early attachment and later EE [13,16].”
BackgroundResult
Change in attachment states of mind of women with binge‐eating disorder
Maxwell, H., Tasca, G. A., Grenon, R., Ritchie, K., Bissada, H., & Balfour, L. (2017) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.2095 · Cited by 13
The development of attachment styles
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“These studies were meta-analyzed by Fraley (2002) and, more recently, by Pinquart et al. (2013).”
BackgroundMethod
Infant and preschool attachment, continuity and relationship to caregiving sensitivity: findings from a new population‐based Australian cohort
McIntosh, J. E., Opie, J. E., Greenwood, C. J., Booth, A., Tan, E. S., Painter, F. L., Messer, M., Macdonald, J. A., Letcher, P., & Olsson, C. A. (2023) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13865 · Cited by 14
“Building upon prior research (Fraley, 2002; Pinquart, Feußner, & Ahnert, 2013; van Ijzendoorn et al., 1999), a recent meta-analysis (Opie et al., 2021) summarised several decades of research on SSP-based attachment continuity data across infancy to school entry period, and across 15 studies ( k =…”
Result
Caregiving antecedents of secure base script knowledge inferred from the Adult Attachment Interview: A comparative, pre‐registered analysis
Nivison, M. D., Dagan, O., Booth‐LaForce, C., Roisman, G. I., & Waters, T. E. A. (2023) · Infant and Child Development · doi:10.1002/icd.2410 · Cited by 14

Authors: Pinquart, M., Feußner, C., & Ahnert, L.
Affiliations: Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
University of Vienna (AT)
Corresponding author: Pinquart, Martin
ORCID: Pinquart, Martin
Ahnert, Lieselotte
Venue: Attachment & Human Development
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Published: 2013-03
Volume: 15
Issue: 2
Pages: 189-218
ISSN: 1461-6734 (ISSN-L)
1469-2988
DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2013.746257
OpenAlex: W2003695103
Cited by: 317
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 1
FWCI: 17.37
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Attachment & Human Development (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords: attachment stability, attachment security, maternal attachment, paternal attachment, time interval effects, insecure attachment, vulnerable children
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Age Factors, Child, Child, Preschool, Humans, Infant, Object Attachment, Parent-Child Relations, Risk Factors, Young Adult

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Meta-analytic evidence for stability in attachments from infancy to early adulthood

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