Structure and Validity of People in My Life: A Self-Report Measure of Attachment in Late Childhood

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 1037 - 1053
• Main Authors: Ridenour, Ty A, Greenberg, Mark T, Cook, Elizabeth T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Springer 01-12-2006; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescents; Adulthood; Adults; Analysis; Attachment; Attachment Behavior; Behavior; Behavior Rating Scales; Biological and medical sciences; Child Behavior Checklist; Child development; Child psychology; Childhood; Children & youth; Correlation; Developmental psychology; Epidemiology; Factor Analysis; Factor Structure; Families & family life; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Goodness of Fit; Grade 5; Grade 6; Hypotheses; Measurement Techniques; Measures (Individuals); Parents & parenting; Peers; Personal relationships; Prevention; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Psychopathology; Questionnaires; Research centers; Selfreport; Teenagers; Validity; Young adults; Young Children; Human; Affect affectivity; People in my life; Questionnaire; Peer relation; Psychometrics; Attachment; Self administration; Late childhood, Factor analysis; Preadolescent; Parent child relation; Test validation; Validity; Affective attachment; Social interaction; Family environment
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-006-9070-5

No self-report measure of attachment is well validated for middle-childhood. This study examined the validity and factor structure of the People in My Life (PIML) measure in 320 urban, fifth and sixth graders. Validity analyses consisted of correlational analyses between PIML subscales and the Child Behavior Checklist, Delinquency Rating Scale for Self and Others, Heath Resources Inventory, and Reynolds Child Depression Scale. Validity correlations were consistent with a-priori hypotheses. Confirmatory factor analyses consisted of comparison of model fit indices between seven models. Two models fit the data well and both models were consistent with the traditionally used PIML scoring protocol. Moreover, both models were consistent with the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), on which the PIML is modeled, as well as the theoretical underpinnings of attachment in childhood. The PIML and IPPA provide instruments for obtaining a continuous self-report measure of attachment from middle-childhood through adulthood.