Composition and functions of women’s attachment network in adulthood

The aim of this study was to explore the female attachment network’s composition and to investigate the types of relationships that fulfill women’s attachment needs and the relative strength of attachment to different figures in different life situations. 251 adult women completed a modified version of the Attachment Network Questionnaire –Revised (ANQ-R). Adult women without a partner assigned the role of principal attachment figure to the best friend. About one third of the participants did not transfer attachment from a figure inside to a figure outside the family of origin. This percentage is higher for women without a partner (46.8%) than for those with a partner (19.1%). Only a minority of the adult women did not show a clear identifiable principal attachment figure. Within the attachment network of women with a partner, we found that the partner is very often the principal attachment figure. Understanding attachment network of women, identifying the specific principal attachment figure, could be useful to plan psychological guidelines for the prevention and/or the treatment relational violence and trauma.