Embracing Your Inner Child: Adolescents and Attachment Objects

Abstract

This paper discusses the relationship between adolescents and their attachment objects through a two-part mixed method study. The study with 753 participants is a concentrated analysis of the way in which attachment levels change across a wide age group from three to eighteen-year-old participants. This study additionally explores how high levels of adolescent attachment to their attachment objects can be coded to the four existing attachment styles, ultimately determining the security of this relationship. Results illustrate the necessity for further research into developing a new adolescent-specific criteria in order to understand these relationships more accurately. However, this study developed a new understanding about the trends in attachment levels in relation to age and the specific nature of adolescent attachment style.