Premium
Assessing Attachment Security With the Attachment Q Sort: Meta‐Analytic Evidence for the Validity of the Observer AQS
Author(s) -
Van IJzendoorn Marinus H.,
Vereijken Carolus M.J.L.,
BakermansKranenburg Marian J.,
Marianne RiksenWalraven J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00733.x
Subject(s) - psychology , sort , observer (physics) , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , arithmetic , physics , quantum mechanics , mathematics
The reliability and validity of the Attachment Q Sort (AQS; Waters & Deane, 1985) was tested in a series of meta‐analyses on 139 studies with 13,835 children. The observer AQS security score showed convergent validity with Strange Situation procedure (SSP) security ( r =.31) and excellent predictive validity with sensitivity measures ( r =.39). Its association with temperament was weaker ( r =.16), which supports the discriminant validity of the observer AQS. Studies on the stability of the observer AQS are still relatively scarce but they have yielded promising results (mean r =.28; k =4, n =162). It is concluded that the observer AQS, but not the self‐reported AQS, is a valid measure of attachment.