Development and Psychometric Properties of a New Self-Report Questionnaire Measuring Attachment in School-Age Children: The Attachment in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (AMCQ)

Abstract

Although conscious aspects of attachment representations can be effectively assessed in middle childhood, the few available self-reports are based on different operationalizations of attachment and do not always show adequate psychometric properties. The current study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Attachment in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (AMCQ). Using three independent samples of Italian children ( Mage = 10 years, 52% = girls), in three interrelated studies we (1) selected a pool of items from existing questionnaires, adapted them to the same response format, and subjected them to exploratory factor analysis; (2) performed confirmatory factor analyses on the retained items; and (3) used structural equation modeling to assess the factor structure, external validity, and invariance across gender and age groups. The final 15-item questionnaire comprised two dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) and a supplementary scale (security). Overall, results supported the reliability and validity of the AMCQ for Italian children.

The Arab COVID‐19 Anxiety Syndrome Scale (C‐19ASS): COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome and psychological symptoms in the Saudi Arabian population

“…Considering previous studies reporting a medium to high correlation between factors (e.g., Mansueto et al, 2022), we used Oblimin as the rotation criterion, which allows correlation among factors (Osborne, 2015). After examining the variance explained by the model, to ensure that it reached a satisfactory level (i.e., at least 40%), and in line with suggested values in the current literature (Marci et al, 2021), we closely inspected the items' factor loadings, and we compared the emerged factorial structure with previous literature results.…”

Attachment and alexithymia predict emotional–behavioural problems of institutionalized, late‐adopted and community adolescents: An explorative multi‐informant mixed‐method study

“…Perhaps, the lower prediction with the interview-based model can be due to the TSIA, which is an interview for adults so far tested as potentially suitable for COM adolescents (Muzi et al, 2023) but never tested in atrisk samples. However, statistical comparisons between models are needed to test if one of them can be more predictive than the others, not only in adolescent groups but also employing attachment measures with younger children (e.g., Marci et al, 2021).…”

“…However, statistical comparisons between models are needed to test if one of them can be more predictive than the others, not only in adolescent groups but also employing attachment measures with younger children ( e.g. , Marci et al, 2021).…”