Measurement invariance across mother/child and father/child attachment relationships. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fernandes, Marília; Veríssimo, Manuela; Santos, António J.; Ribeiro, Olívia; Vaughn, Brian E.; Gastelle, Marissa; Kerns, Kathryn A.
• Is Part Of: Attachment & human development. Volume 23:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 56
• Page End: 74
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Attachment -- middle childhood -- cultural context -- mother -- father; Attachment behavior -- Periodicals; Developmental psychology -- Periodicals; 155.418
• DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2019.1710222
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-6734

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We examine the factorial structure of the Security Scale Questionnaire (SSQ), exploring measurement invariance across mother-father-child attachment relationships, child sex, and country. We used the new 21-item SSQ version that integrates both safe haven and secure base behaviors in a two factors structure. Participants were 457 children (224 girls and 233 boys), ranging from 9 to 14 years old ( M = 10.84, SD = 1.02) from Portuguese and USA samples. We confirmed the SSQ's two-factor structure, although four items were unrelated to the latent structure and excluded from the final model. Results showed that SSQ can be used to study both mother/child and father/child attachment relationships. Multi-group analyses suggested measurement invariance between boys and girls and between Portuguese and USA samples. Our findings suggest that the SSQ can be considered a valid and cost-effective tool to measure perceived attachment security in middle childhood for both mother/child and father/child relationships.