Secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganizedwhich one are you?

Secure Attachment

Those of us with a secure attachment style are able to build healthy long-term relationships.

To put it simply, secure attachment is what most of us want.

Yolanda Renteria, LPC

Children who develop this attachment style had parents or primary caregivers who were more attentive to their needs.

They felt safe, loved, and understood.

Research suggests that securely attached children are more empathetic as they get older.

Children who are ambivalently attached are typically suspicious of strangers and distressed when separated from a caregiver.

In some cases, this may look like what is commonly called “commitment phobia.”

That last part may sound like a good way to protect ourselves from getting hurt (and it is!

), but it’s also a good way to prevent ourselves from finding meaningful, long-lasting relationships.

Children with an avoidant attachment may have had caregivers who werent emotionally available.

They may have been left to take care of themselves because they couldnt rely on a parent or guardian.

These children might avoid parents and caregivers and not have a preference between a caregiver and a stranger.

Disorganized Attachment

Adisorganized attachment styleincludes a mix of behaviors.

A person with this attachment style might be clingy at one time and emotionally distant at another time.

Its typically a response to parents or caregivers who may have been abusive or neglectful.

What Should I Know About Attachment?

Attachment describes the way people form relationships and how they interact and behave in those relationships.

Our attachment style is formed during early childhood by the way we interact with our parents or primary caregivers.

Your bond with a primary caregiver forms the basis for your attachment with others.

Researchers then added a fourth style.

Who Is This Attachment Style Quiz For?

We all want to know why our relationships workor don’t work, as the case may be.

This attachment style quiz is based on thefour main attachment stylesrecognized by researchers and mental health providers.

Each response corresponds to a different attachment style.

Is My Attachment Set in Stone?

Remember, it’s called attachmenttheoryfor a reason.

How we act under certain circumstances doesn’t define the rest of our lives and all future relationships.

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