attachmentaasanxietyavoidanceemerging-adults
AAS-9: a two-factor attachment model for emerging adults (anxiety / avoidance)
In 307 US emerging adults 18-29, CFA selected a two-factor model (anxiety α=.90, avoidance α=.74) over three- and four-factor alternatives.
Citation
Adult Attachment Scale validation (J Psychopathol Behav Assess 2025) (2025). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment — DOI 10.1007/s10862-025-10235-7
View source5 min · Updated 2026-08-25
Educational context only, not a diagnosis or clinical assessment. Product-authored items are labeled where validated instruments do not apply.
§ 01 — Findings
What the study found
- EFA suggested four factors; CFA selected two factors (CMIN/DF 1.559, TLI .985, CFI .993, RMSEA .044).
- Anxiety and avoidance correlated with ACEs and clinically elevated depression/anxiety, supporting convergent validity.
- Authors recommend an abbreviated AAS-9 as a measure of attachment anxiety and avoidance.
§ 02 — Encoding
How we encode it
- Our two-factor relatt- design (anxiety vs. avoidance, plus security) mirrors the best-fitting model — no ACEs questions asked, but the dimensional signal is retained.
- Future option: a versioned 9-item attachment mini-bank labeled by provenance.