Study Regarding Relationship Attachment Based on Childhood Parental Attachment

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Evaluating Attachment Styles in Romantic Relationships Affected by Childhood Experiences Attachment has been traditionally thought of as a pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are resulted from the ability of a caregiver to meet an infants’ need for closeness (Myrick, Green, & Crenshaw, 2014). In reality attachment style stays with a child up until adulthood because they sustain relationships with their parents and also develop new ones with friends and romantic partners to have emotional and intimate support (Black & Schutte, 2006). It was proposed by Bowlby (Bartholomew, 1993) that adulthood relationships were developed from parent-child relationships (Caron, Lafontaine, Bureau, Levesque, & Johnson, 2012). Previous research has shown that adults’ attachment to their parents correlated to their attachment in relationships. Recent research results revealed that the more positive parent-child attachment an adult resulted to the ability to easily trust and adjust in a romantic relationship (Black & Schutte, 2006). This research shows how childhood experiences and attachment affects the development of romantic relationships. Many factors such as sibling interaction and environment plays a role into childhood experiences and not solely parent-child attachment. The decisions an adult makes in quality romantic relationships such as how trusting, dependency, and openness is based on their attachment to their parents. In previous research, (N.L. Collins et al., 2002) the way individuals evaluate and react to new relationships are guided by the reflection of a cognitive model of attachment styles (Rauer, 2007). As previously stated, the results of positive or negative parent-child relationships determine how easily or... ... middle of paper ... ...ron, A., Lafontaine, M., Bureau, J., Levesque, C., & Johnson, S. M. (2012). Comparisons of Close Relationships: An Evaluation of Relationship Quality and Patterns of Attachment to Parents, Friends, and Romantic Partners in Young Adults. Canadian Journal Of Behavioural Science, 44(4), 245-256. Myrick, A. C., Green, E.J., & Crenshaw, D. (2014). The Influence of Divergent Parental Attachment Styles on Adolescent Maturation: Implications for Family Counseling Practitioners. Family Journal, 22(1), 35-42. Rauer, A. L. (2007). Differential parenting and sibling jealousy: Developmental correlates of young adults’ romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 14(4), 495-511. Smith, S. D., & Ng, K. (2009, June 9). Association Between Adult Romantic Attachment Styles and Family-of-Origin Expressive Atmosphere. The Family Journal, 17(3), 220-228. doi:10.1177/1066480709337806

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