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Structure and validity of people in my life: A self-report measure of attachment in late childhood

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Abstract

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.

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Notes

  1. These data were collected as part of a preventive intervention trial (Greenberg et al., 1995).

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Acknowledgement

This study was funded by NIDA grant (K01 00434).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, 109 S, Henderson Building, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Ty A. Ridenour & Mark T. Greenberg

  2. Washington State University, Vancouver, USA

    Elizabeth T. Cook

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  1. Ty A. Ridenour
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  2. Mark T. Greenberg
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  3. Elizabeth T. Cook
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Correspondence to Mark T. Greenberg.

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Ty Ridenour is a Research Associate in the Prevention Research Center at Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in Educational/School Psychology from Ball State University in 1996 and his Masters in Psychiatric Epidemiology from Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine in 1999, He completed post-doctoral training in Psychiatric Epidemiology at Washington University School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry. His major research interests are etiology of problem behaviors, psychological assessment, and prevention science.

Mark Greenberg is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Virginia in 1978 and is the Edna Peterson Bennett Chair of the Prevention Research Center. His major research interests are developmental psychopathology and prevention science.

Elizabeth Cook is currently a licensed psychologist at Washington State University Vancouver providing Student Counseling Services. She received her Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Washington.

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Ridenour, T.A., Greenberg, M.T. & Cook, E.T. Structure and validity of people in my life: A self-report measure of attachment in late childhood. J Youth Adolescence 35, 1037–1053 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9070-5

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