Measuring adult romantic attachment: psychometric properties of the brief Spanish version of the experiences in close relationships

Abstract

The Experiences in Close Relationships (Brennan et al, Attachment theory and close relationships, 1998) questionnaire is one of the most widely used measures of adult romantic attachment. Despite the advantages of the ECR, the length of this measure may discourage its use in clinical and research contexts. Consequently, the goal of this study was to develop a brief Spanish version of the ECR questionnaire and to examine its psychometric properties when administered to six different Spanish-speaking samples from Chile. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the twodimensional structure of the ECR and its invariance across gender. Results also supported the reliability and concurrent validity of our brief Spanish version of the ECR (i.e., Spanish ECR-12), by its association with measures of emotion regulation, dyadic empathy, psychological distress and well-being, and relationship satisfaction. The Spanish ECR-12 can be used by researchers and clinical professionals as an abridged measure of adult attachment.

Attachment and Dyadic Forgiveness in Individuals in Same-Sex Couple Relationships

“…Attachment insecurity was measured using the 12-item Spanish validated version [ 49 ] of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR) [ 50 ], a widely used self-report measure of adult attachment. The ECR has two 6-item subscales of attachment anxiety (e.g., “I worry that my partner is not as interested in me as I am in her”) and attachment avoidance (e.g., “I feel uncomfortable opening up to my partner”).…”

“…Evidence of validity and reliability support its use with both same- and different-sex couples [ 51 ]. The Spanish ECR showed good psychometric properties, with expected associations with measures of difficulties in emotion regulation, empathy, psychological distress, and life satisfaction, and Cronbach’s αs from 0.72 to 0.83 for the attachment anxiety subscale and 0.78 to 0.89 for the attachment avoidance subscale [ 49 ]. Reliability in the present study was α = 0.81 for attachment anxiety and α = 0.76 for attachment avoidance.…”

Evidence for a Bifactor Structure of the Caregiving Questionnaire with Individuals Involved in Different and Same-Sex Couple Relationships

“…The Spanish Experiences in Close Relationships-12 (ECR-12) [ 44 ] is a validated self-report adult attachment scale for the Chilean population in a short version, consisting of 12 items, developed from the original 36-item version of Brennan et al [ 45 ]. The ECR-12 assesses the two dimensions of adult attachment in romantic relationships: attachment anxiety (e.g., “I worry about being abandoned”) and attachment avoidance (e.g., “I don’t feel comfortable opening up to romantic partners”), which consist of six items each rated on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree ).…”

Sociality of Future Outcomes Moderates The Effects Of Warmth And Competence On Social Optimism Bias - A Pre-Registered Study

“…Furthermore, individuals high on attachment avoidance are more sensitive to traits of competence, such as autonomy and self-e cacy (e.g. 21,22 ), which are deemed more desirable than communal traits 23,24 .…”

“…Attachment anxiety, on the other hand, makes individuals more sensitive to traits of warmth such as friendliness and trustworthiness (e.g. 22 ), which are weighed more than competence traits [23][24][25] .…”