During infancy, we develop an attachment style that carries on throughout our lives. When you are an infant, you fall into either a secure attachment style or one of the insecure attachment styles: anxious/ambivalent or avoidant. Moving into adulthood, attachment styles expand into four types: secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing (Gruman et al., 2016). The question is, can an individual’s attachment style change from infancy to adolescence, or do they generally remain stable? Adolescence is a time when individuals go through great developmental changes, so examining if their attachment styles change as well is important.
Adolescents during this developmental period often seek independence from parental figures and try to form their own identity. With figuring out who they are, changes with emotions, the evolution of building relationships, and forming attachments romantically or platonically. Researchers Theisen et al. (2018) found that adolescents “gradually increase in their levels of avoidance.” This could be due to their need for independence they are seeking and to form their own identity without their parent’s influence. They are more concerned with forming romantic relationships or friendships, thus becoming unconcerned with their parent (Gruman et al., 2016). Another reason for this might be that because they are in this transitional period, they may not feel comfortable opening up to their parents. They are beginning to form their own thoughts and opinions during this time and might feel as though their parents misunderstand them or they are choosing to rebel against their parents.
Another finding in this study was in relation to adolescents’ attachment anxiety. This is when a person has the need for closeness but still fears that they will be abandoned (Gruman et al., 2016). Researchers found that “youth tend to maintain relatively low levels of attachment-anxiety” (Theisen et al., 2018). Attachment anxiety neither increased nor decreased, meaning that adolescents levels of anxiety remain fairly stable during this developmental period. The researchers did not examine attachment styles in regards to friendships or romantic relationships, but only parental relationships. This stableness in anxiety they are reporting could have shifted over towards peer relationships, types of relationships. Adolescents may be experiencing more anxiety towards peer rejection, or they might have newfound confidence in these relationships.
Attachment styles are an important part of being able to form bonds with others. During adolescence specifically, it seems to be a process that evolves. While the study identifies factors that can change attachment styles during this period, it leaves room for more research to be conducted. It is limited because it does not assess the adolescents attachment styles to their peers but their parents. If adolescents are seeking independence from parents during this developmental period and forming bonds with peers, then that needs to be studied as well.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US).
Theisen, J. C., Fraley, R. C., Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., & Chopik, W. J. (2018). How do attachment styles change from childhood through adolescence? findings from an accelerated longitudinal cohort study. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 141-146.
Your blog has many important points on how attachment styles may change from infancy to adolescence. The developmental shifts adolescents go through like search for identity and social connection make this period important to focus on in terms of changes in attachment. The research you focused on was mostly about parental relationships, it may also be important to include peer and romantic relationships since that may provide a more comprehensive view of changes in attachment.
As adolescents transition from relying on their parents to forming deeper connections with their peers, attachment styles may shift. Research found that secure attachments to parents often predict healthier and secure friendships and romantic relationships. However, for adolescents with insecure parental attachments, supportive peer relationships can serve as a corrective emotional experience. This would potentially shift their attachment style towards secure attachment. This highlights the role of social contexts in attachment development.
Allen, J.P. and Miga, E.M. (2010) Attachment in adolescence: A move to the level of emotion regulation, Journal of social and personal relationships. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2860752/