Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753

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Journal of Research in Personality

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jrp

Maternal nurturance predicts decreases in attachment avoidance

in emerging adulthood q
William J. Chopik a,, Amy C. Moors a,b, Robin S. Edelstein a
a
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
b
Department of Womens Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: One of the central tenets of attachment theory is that experiences in early childhood inuence peoples
Available online 28 August 2014 approach to social relationships throughout the lifespan. We examined the inuence of caregiver
nurturance on the development of attachment orientation from adolescence to emerging adulthood in
Keywords: a sample of 103 individuals (50% female). Attachment anxiety decreased from age 14 to 18 and then
Maternal nurturance increased from age 18 to 23; avoidance decreased from age 14 to 23. Higher caregiver nurturance at
Attachment age 3 was associated with larger declines in avoidance from age 14 to 23. Our ndings illustrate how
Adolescence
early caregiving experiences continue to shape and inuence childrens personality development, nearly
Emerging adulthood
twenty years after these experiences occur.
2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction parentinfant attachment (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall,

One of the central tenets of attachment theory is that
experiences in early childhood inuence peoples approach to
social relationships throughout the lifespan (Bowlby, 1969/1982).
Sensitive and nurturant caregiving is thought to promote childrens
sense of security, which is carried forward into adolescent and
adult relationships (Fraley & Shaver, 2000). Yet very few studies
have examined prospective links between parenting styles and
childrens personality beyond the rst few years of life. Further,
it is unclear how attachment orientations change during emerging
adulthood and whether early caregiving environments predict
the nature of these changes. In the current study, we examined
the inuence of caregiver nurturance on the development of
attachment orientations during emerging adulthood.
1.1. The development of attachment orientation in emerging
adulthood
Attachment theory postulates that differences in the quality of
early caregiving experiences lead to individual differences in
q
The data employed in this study derive from a 30-year longitudinal study begun
with 128 3-year-old girls and boys, planned and conducted by Jack and Jeanne H.
Block, involving a sequence of 9 independent assessments based on personality and
cognitive Life, Observational, Test, and Self-report (LOTS) measures. The rst author
was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Corresponding author. Address: Department of Psychology, University of
Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States. Fax: +1 (734)
647 9440.
E-mail address: chopik@umich.edu (W.J. Chopik).
1978). According to this framework, secure infants tend to have
nurturant caregivers who are responsive and attentive to their
needs; insecure (anxious and avoidant) infants tend to have
caregivers who are less nurturant and less responsive to their
needs. Hazan and Shaver (1987) extended these classications to
adult attachment orientations that conceptually map onto differ-
ences found among infants (secure, anxious, avoidant). Attachment
anxiety reects concern over the availability of close others;
attachment avoidance reects discomfort with closeness and
intimacy. Individuals low in both anxiety and avoidance are
generally considered secure. Indeed, secure attachment assessed
in infancy is often related to better communication and conict
resolution skills in close relationships in adulthood (Roisman,
Collins, Sroufe, & Egeland, 2005).
Since Hazan and Shavers (1987) seminal article, adult attach-
ment theory has become a dominant framework for understanding
individual differences in cognition, emotion, and behavior in close
relationships (Cassidy & Shaver, 2008). Relatively little is known,
however, about lifespan developmental changes in attachment ori-
entation, particularly during important life stages and transitions.
Emerging adulthood, a period between adolescence and adulthood,
may be particularly relevant for understanding changes in
attachment because it is a period of great change, both physically
and psychologically (Arnett, 2000). During this time period, people
begin to explore their identities and become increasingly indepen-
dent from their primary caregivers (Erikson, 1968). Emerging
adulthood is also important from an attachment perspective
because emerging adults begin to shift their attachment needs

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.08.004
0092-6566/ 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
48 W.J. Chopik et al. / Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753
from their parents to their peers and romantic partners (Fraley &
Davis, 1997). According to Bowlbys (1969/1982) original theoret-
ical claims, attachment orientations serve as working models for
how people relate to one another and are malleable over time and
across situations. Thus, emerging adults are likely to encounter
many new experiences and their attachment orientation may serve
as an important guide for making sense of these new situations.
How do attachment orientations change during emerging
adulthood? Cross-sectional data suggest meaningful differences
in attachment orientation even within this relatively small time-
frame: In large cross-sectional samples of over 86,000 adults, we
found that attachment anxiety and avoidance generally decreased
from age 1922 before increasing around age 23 (see Chopik &
Edelstein, in press; Chopik, Edelstein, & Fraley, 2013). Thus, one
might expect a curvilinear relationship between age and attach-
ment orientation (with anxiety and avoidance initially decreasing
before increasing again) during emerging adulthood. Although
avoidance and anxiety may show curvilinear change with age, it
is also plausible that avoidance would consistently decline during
this time period. For instance, among college-aged students, avoid-
ant individuals are less likely to enter a committed relationship
above and beyond the effects of physical attractiveness, desire to
start a committed relationship, and prior dating experience
(Schindler, Fagundes, & Murdock, 2010). Anxiety is unrelated to
emerging adults relationship initiation, suggesting that avoidance
may be particularly important during this time period. We hypoth-
esized that avoidance would decline from adolescence through
emerging adulthood (1423); these changes could result from
individuation processes and/or the shifting of attachment needs
and networks from parents to peers during early adulthood
(Fraley & Davis, 1997). Also, similar normative changes in person-
ality are often thought to be benecial in the formation and
maintenance of close relationships in early adulthood (Roberts,
Wood, & Smith, 2005).
1.2. Associations between caregiver nurturance in childhood and adult
attachment orientation
Although early caregiving is thought to be central to the devel-
opment of attachment bonds, the few studies examining the devel-
opment of attachment orientation in adulthood have not examined
the inuence of caregiving environments over time (Brenning,
Soenens, Braet, & Beyers, 2013; Davila, Burge, & Hammen, 1997;
Davila, Karney, & Bradbury, 1999; Hamilton, 2000; Scharfe &
Bartholomew, 1994; Scharfe & Cole, 2006; Waters, Merrick,
Treboux, Crowell, & Albersheim, 2000; Zhang & Labouvie-Vief,
2004). The few notable exceptions suggest that early caregiving
quality can have enduring effects on later behavior. For example,
in a 20-year longitudinal study, Zayas, Mischel, Shoda, and Aber
(2011) found that maternal sensitivity at 18 months was nega-
tively related to anxiety and avoidance at age 22. In another study,
observer ratings of caregiver supportiveness, enthusiasm, and
patience at 24 months of age were positively associated with chil-
drens conict resolution skills at age 16 and negatively associated
with hostility towards a partner during a conict-resolution task at
age 2021 (Oria et al., 2011). In a study of over 700 families,
Fraley, Roisman, Booth-LaForce, Owen, and Holland (2013) found
that maternal sensitivity throughout childhood (measured repeat-
edly from the time the child was 6 months old to age 15) predicted
lower avoidance at age 18. Several other studies examining the
effects of parenting styles on attachment orientation reach similar
conclusions, albeit among young children and adolescents
(Beijersbergen, Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van Ijzendoorn,
2012; Raby, Cicchetti, Carlson, Egeland, & Collins, 2013; Raby
et al., 2012; Roisman et al., 2005; Shulman, Elicker, & Sroufe, 1994).
Although these studies provide important evidence for links
between early caregiving and attachment development later in life,
they have one important limitation. Specically, previous research
has generally relied on two assessment points: one of parenting in
early childhood and one of attachment/commitment in adulthood
(Brenning, Soenens, Braet, & Bal, 2012; Brenning, Soenens, Braet, &
Bosmans, 2011; Fraley et al., 2013; Roisman et al., 2005; Salo,
Jokela, Lehtimki, & Keltikangas-Jrvinen, 2011; Weineld,
Sroufe, & Egeland, 2000; Weineld, Whaley, & Egeland, 2004;
Zayas et al., 2011). Limited time points can obscure developmental
trajectories that are assumed to give rise to the formation of adult
attachment orientation (Fraley & Brumbaugh, 2004). Perhaps the
inuence of early caregiving emerges only after an extended period
of time, when individuals begin to shift attention and resources to
nding a primary partner (Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins,
2005; Sroufe, Egeland, & Kreutzer, 1990). Or, perhaps caregiving
in childhood is only inuential to a certain point, before individuals
begin to update older experiences with new interactions with
peers and romantic partners (Kagan, 1996; Lewis, 1997). Alterna-
tively, early caregiving experiences may have a static inuence,
such that their relative contribution may not change over time
(Roisman & Fraley, 2012).
Sroufe et al. (1990) suggest that early experiences may not
always predict development in early childhood, but may again
become manifest in certain contexts, in the face of further
environmental change, or in the face of certain developmental
issues (p. 1364). Emerging adulthood can be considered a time
of great environmental change that presents many developmental
issues (e.g., nding a long term partner; Arnett, 2000). Thus, the
inuence of early caregiving experiences can be conceptualized
as a latent phenomenon that emerges only during specic develop-
mental contexts, such as emerging adulthood; as a result, early
caregiving experiences may become increasingly inuential in
predicting adult attachment orientation during the onset of major
relationship transitions during this time period. Consistent with
Sroufe and colleagues observation of latent developmental pro-
cesses, attachment experiences may become more salient during
particularly stressful transitions, perhaps exerting their inuence
more during this time period. In the current study, we hypothe-
sized that individuals with more nurturant caregivers would
become increasingly more secure (less anxious and avoidant)
throughout emerging adulthood.
1.3. The current study
The current study examined the development of attachment
orientation from adolescence (age 14) to emerging adulthood (ages
18 and 23). We also examined whether changes in attachment
orientation were moderated by nurturant caregiving at age 3.
The current sample is ideal for examining the enduring inuence
of caregiving practices on adult attachment orientation for several
reasons. First, there are relatively few longitudinal studies of
attachment orientation, especially those spanning more than a
few years (Fraley, 2002). The current study spans the longest
timeframe of existing longitudinal studies of attachment
orientation, predicting trajectories in attachment as a function of
caregiver styles nearly 20 years prior. Second, the current study
includes four assessment points, one in childhood and three at ages
14, 18, and 23, with identical measures of attachment orientation.
Multiple assessment points allow us to examine the trajectory of
changes in attachment orientation as a function of early caregiving
experiences. Further, with multiple assessments, we can also test
whether early caregiving experiences have an emergent inuence
on adult personality, appearing during particularly challenging
developmental periods (Sroufe, Cofno, & Carlson, 2010; Sroufe
et al., 1990). Third, previous research relies heavily on self-reports
 W.J. Chopik et al. / Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753
of attachment, which (although informative) are susceptible to
response and social desirability biases (Leak & Parsons, 2001;
Schwarz, 1999). In the current study, attachment orientations were
assessed at each time point using observer-based judgments.
Based on previous cross-sectional work (Chopik et al., 2013), we
hypothesized that anxiety and avoidance would initially decrease
from age 14 to 18 and would then increase from age 18 to 23.
However, it is also plausible that avoidance declines during this
time, given the central role avoidance plays in relationship forma-
tion (Schindler et al., 2010). We hypothesized that early caregiving
experiences would be increasingly inuential during emerging
adulthood (Sroufe et al., 1990), such that individuals with
nurturant caregivers would become increasingly less anxious and
avoidant (that is, more secure) during emerging adulthood.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
One hundred and three individuals (50.4% female) were partic-
ipants in the Block and Block Longitudinal Study of Cognitive and
Ego Development, which was initiated in 1968 at the University
of California at Berkeley (for full description, see Block & Block,
2006). The sample was recruited from two preschools and
participants were assessed at ages 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 18, 23, and
32. Measures of caregiving practices were collected at age 3 and
measures of attachment orientation were collected at ages 14,
18, and 23; thus, the current study includes data from these four
time points. The ethnic composition of the sample was 68.3%
Caucasian, 24% AfricanAmerican, 4.8% AsianAmerican, and 2.9%
other ethnicities.
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Maternal nurturance
At the age 3 assessment, mothers self-described their child-
rearing attitudes and practices using the Child-Rearing Practices
Report (CRPR; Block, 1965), a 91-item Q-Sort. The CRPR is a widely
used measure of parenting that predicts nurturant behavior of
caregivers toward children in a variety of settings, ranging
from problem-solving exercises to moderately stressful experi-
ences (Dekovic, Janssens, & Gerris, 1991; Kochanska, Leon, &
Radke-Yarrow, 1989). Each mother was instructed to sort the 91
cards into seven piles of 13 cards, according to how well each item
described her caregiving practices (from 1 = least descriptive to
7 = most descriptive). Previous research has identied two factors
of the CRPR on which caregivers vary: nurturance and restrictive-
ness (Dekovic et al., 1991). The 18-item nurturance subscale
(a = .68) reects parents willingness to share feelings and
experiences with their children and to show acceptance and
responsiveness to the childs needs. Sample items include: I
encourage my child to be curious, to explore, and to question
things, I feel that a child should be given comfort and
understanding when he/she is scared or upset, and I express
my affection by hugging, kissing, and holding my child. The
22-item restrictiveness subscale (a = .75) describes childrearing
practices that are characterized by a high degree of control,
endorsement of strict rules, and narrow limits on the childs
behavior. Sample items include: I prefer my child not to try things
if there is a chance he/she might fail, I control my child by
warning him/her about the bad things that can happen to
him/her, and I believe that a child should be seen and not heard.
The two subscales were highly intercorrelated (r = .75, p < .001),
so they were combined into a single scale of nurturance (a = .83;
restrictiveness items were reversed-scored).
49
2.2.2. Attachment orientation
In the current study, attachment orientation was assessed at
ages 14, 18, and 23 using subscales developed from the California
Adult Q-Sort (CAQ; Block, 1961, 2008). The CAQ includes 100
descriptive items, which are sorted by trained observers into nine
forced-choice categories, ranging from 1 (extremely uncharacteris-
tic) to 9 (extremely characteristic). The observers, a team of psychol-
ogists and graduate students, had no previous interaction with the
participants. Evaluations were based on in-depth interviews and
observations conducted during a variety of experimental tasks.
Q-Sorts from the multiple observers were averaged, and the com-
posites were then used to create scales for anxiety and avoidance.
Measures of anxiety and avoidance using the CAQ were developed
in a separate sample of participants in consultation with expert
ratings (Chopik & Edelstein, submitted for publication). Expert
raters rst nominated CAQ items that were characteristic of attach-
ment anxiety and avoidance. In a sample of observers and targets,
ratings based on composites of these CAQ items were compared to
self- and observer-reports from a widely used scale of adult attach-
ment (i.e., the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory;
Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998). Anxiety and avoidance composites
from the CAQ correlate highly with widely used self-report mea-
sures of attachment (rs > .50 for anxiety; rs > .46 for avoidance)
and demonstrate convergent and divergent validity with other per-
sonality traits. The 14-item CAQ-Anxiety scale (aage14 = .87,
aage18 = .87, aage23 = .88) reects an individuals concern about
abandonment. The 14-item CAQ-Avoidance (aage14 = .79,
aage18 = .80, aage23 = .82) subscale reects an individuals discom-
fort with closeness. Sample items include Seeks reassurance from
others (anxiety) and Keeps people at a distance; avoids close
relationships (avoidance). The full measure is available at the
request of the corresponding author.
3. Results
3.1. Preliminary analyses
Means and correlations among the main variables of interest
are shown in Table 1. Participants generally decreased in anxiety
from ages 14 to 18. However, the opposite pattern of results was
found from ages 18 to 23: participants generally increased in
anxiety. Avoidance generally decreased from ages 14 to 23. In
addition, men were more avoidant than women at each age (14,
18, 23); gender was not signicantly related to anxiety across all
time points. Caregiver nurturance was unrelated to attachment
anxiety and avoidance at each age. Additionally, anxiety and avoid-
ance were signicantly correlated at each age (14, 18, and 23).
3.2. Stability of attachment orientation in emerging adulthood
The correlation between two assessments of the same attach-
ment orientation (e.g., anxiety at age 14 and anxiety at age 18)
represents rank-order stability of that construct. As shown in
Table 1, anxiety and avoidance showed signicant rank-order sta-
bility at each time point, suggesting that attachment orientation
was relatively stable over this 9-year period. In general, anxiety
(meanr = .51) and avoidance (meanr = .57) showed comparable
levels of stability, Z = .06, p = .55.
3.3. The effect of caregiver nurturance on adult attachment orientation
We hypothesized that greater caregiver nurturance at age 3
would predict increasing levels of security (lower avoidance and
anxiety) over time. We tested these hypotheses using growth curve
modeling, which enabled us to model intra-individual changes and
moderators of these changes (Roberts & Chapman, 2000; Willett,
50 W.J. Chopik et al. / Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753

Table 1
Correlations among primary study variables.

Mean (SD) Age 3 Age 14 Age 18 Age 23

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Gender
Age 3 2. Mother nurturance 6.75 (.45) .12
Age 14 3. Anxiety 4.64 (.87) .00 .11
4. Avoidance 4.97 (.75) .28** .04 .38**
Age 18 5. Anxiety 3.99 (.69) .11 .17 .54** .14
6. Avoidance 4.68 (.61) .28** .08 .30** .59** .39**
Age 23 7. Anxiety 4.69 (1.19) .12 .09 .44** .13 .55** .29**
8. Avoidance 4.57 (1.02) .24* .14 .30** .48** .35** .63** .45**

Note. Ns range from 89 to 103. Boldface coefcients reect rank-order stability between two assessment points. Gender: 1 = male, 1 = female.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.

Table 2
Growth curve models predicting attachment avoidance from age, caregiver nurtur- 5.2
ance, and gender.
5

Attachment Avoidance
Regression term B SE df t p
Intercept 4.63 .08 4.8
Age .05 .01 225.09 4.28 <.001
Nurturance .11 .18 174.65 .59 .56 Low Nurturance
4.6
Gender .08 .08 171.62 .95 .34 High Nurturance
Age  nurturance .05 .02 226.66 1.98 <.05 4.4
Age  gender .003 .01 225.09 .26 .80
Nurturance  gender .13 .18 174.65 .73 .47
4.2
Age  nurturance  gender .04 .02 226.66 1.47 .14
Age2 .01 .003 114.01 2.00 <.05
Age2  nurturance .002 .01 114.07 .25 .81 4
Age2  gender .003 .003 114.01 1.20 .23 14 23
Age2  nurturance  gender .002 .01 114.07 .32 .75 Age

Note. Gender: 1 = male, 1 = female.
1988). Age at assessment (ages 14, 18, 23) was treated as a within-
subjects factor and caregiver nurturance at age 3 was treated as
time invariant. Attachment orientation (avoidance, anxiety) was
predicted from age, age2, gender, caregiver nurturance at age 3,
and the interaction between these variables. The age2 term was
included to test the hypothesis that anxiety and avoidance would
decrease from age 14 to 18 and increase from age 18 to 23. Given
that men tend to be higher in avoidance and women tend to be
higher in anxiety (Chopik et al., 2013; Del Giudice, 2011;
Klohnen & Bera, 1998), participant gender was included as a
covariate in all analyses.
Results from the growth curve analyses for avoidance are pre-
sented in Table 2. Age, age2, and the age  nurturance interaction
were statistically signicant. As shown in Table 1, avoidance
decreased from ages 14 to 23. However, after controlling for the
linear effect of age, age2 emerged as a signicant predictor. Visual
inspection of the predicted means for avoidance revealed that
decreases for avoidance were larger between the ages of 14 and
18 than 18 and 23; namely, avoidance shows a slight leveling off
after age 18 after accounting for variability attributed to other
terms in the model. Moreover, the pattern of overall decreases in
avoidance remained across all time points. As hypothesized, care-
giver nurturance moderated the relationship between age and
avoidance. As depicted in Fig. 1, participants whose caregivers
were more nurturant decreased sharply in avoidance from adoles-
cence to emerging adulthood, b = .07, p < .001. Participants whose
caregivers were low in nurturance (marginally) decreased in
avoidance, but at a slower rate over time, b = .03, p = .09. For
anxiety, only the main effect of age2 was signicant, b = .03,
p < .001. As shown in Table 1, anxiety decreased from age 14 to
18 and then increased from age 18 to 23.
Because the attachment orientation dimensions were signi-
cantly correlated at each time point, we created residualized
Fig. 1. The effects of age and caregiver nurturance on attachment avoidance.
Regression lines are plotted at one standard deviation above and below the means
of caregiver nurturance.
anxiety and avoidance scores by predicting each dimension (e.g.,
anxiety) from the other dimension (e.g., avoidance) and saving
the residuals (see Chopik et al., 2013 for a similar approach). We
then conducted a second set of growth curve models using these
residualized scores to examine the independent trajectories of
the two attachment dimensions. For both avoidance and anxiety,
the results were nearly identical to those presented in Table 2, with
the exception that the age  nurturance interaction for avoidance
increased in magnitude, b = .05, p = .02.
4. Discussion
The current study examined the inuence of caregiver nurtur-
ance on the development of attachment orientation during emerg-
ing adulthood. As expected, we found that attachment anxiety
decreased from age 14 to 18 and then increased from age 18 to
23. Avoidance decreased from age 14 to 23. Further, higher care-
giver nurturance at age 3 was associated with sharper decreases
in avoidance from age 14 to 23. Our study is one of the few
prospective demonstrations of the enduring inuence of caregiver
nurturance in childhood on the development of attachment
orientation in adulthood.
Findings from the current study are consistent with cross-
sectional research showing a curvilinear relationship between age
and attachment anxiety during emerging adulthood (Chopik &
Edelstein, in press; Chopik et al., 2013). Participants in the current
study longitudinally decreased in avoidance during emerging
adulthood, which is not consistent with prior cross-sectional
research, but perhaps there are reasons to expect this decrease.
This time period is associated with many intra- and interpersonal
challenges: Emerging adults experience dramatic increases in
 W.J. Chopik et al. / Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753
independence and begin to transfer attachment-related needs
away from their caregivers and towards peers and romantic part-
ners (Fraley & Davis, 1997). Although a curvilinear relationship
between age and attachment orientation has been found in previ-
ous research, its underlying reasons are not entirely clear. Perhaps
lower attachment anxiety and avoidance around age 18 enables
people to initiate close relationships with romantic partners for
the rst time. For many, perhaps their rst few attempts at
committed relationships are a kind of learning experience, as they
navigate uncharted territory with respect to close relationships;
their rst few relationship attempts may even go poorly. Increases
in anxiety from ages 18 to 23 may capture this learning experience.
Decreases in avoidance during the same time period may enable
individuals to continue to invest in relationships despite a surge
of anxiety and uncertainty. As lower levels of avoidance often
predict the formation of committed relationships (Schindler
et al., 2010), decreases in avoidance during emerging adulthood
likely facilitate the transition from casual relationships to more
committed relationships. Moreover, people are generally lower in
anxiety and avoidance after age 23 (Chopik et al., 2013), which
suggests that this small increase in anxiety (when adults have
initial experiences with dating) may be temporary.
Our ndings are also consistent with research showing that
early caregiving experiences can have enduring inuences on close
relationships in young adulthood (Oria et al., 2011; Zayas et al.,
2011). The quality of caregiving in childhood is hypothesized to
lead to the formation of attachment orientations that guide behav-
ior in close relationships for the remainder of an individuals life
(Bowlby, 1969/1982; Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Bowlby specically
considered these working models for how individuals navigate
the world, which could be revised in light of new experiences,
despite the large inuence of the rst bond between a caregiver
and child (Fraley, 2007). However, very few studies examine the
quality of caregiving in childhood in relation to adult attachment
orientation; even fewer studies have examined how caregiving
experiences moderate changes in attachment orientations over
multiple assessment points (as recommended by Fraley &
Brumbaugh, 2004). Thus, our ndings make a novel contribution
by demonstrating that individual differences in nurturant
caregiving at a very young age longitudinally predict divergent
trajectories in attachment orientation during emerging adulthood.
Perhaps the most important contribution of the current study
was that nurturant caregiving predicted declines in avoidance
during an important developmental stage. We observed that early
caregiving experiences had an emergent inuence on attachment
orientation in adulthood. This phenomenon is consistent with
Sroufe et al.s (1990) observation that, although early experiences
may not always predict development in childhood and adoles-
cence, the inuence of these experiences may emerge during
particularly challenging times in development. We suggest that
emerging adulthood, with its challenges (and successes), are such
a time when early experiences can exact their inuence. Further,
the moderating effect of maternal nurturance was only signicant
for avoidance, perhaps suggesting that maternal nurturance has
more inuence on avoidance than on anxiety over time (Fraley
et al., 2013). In twin studies that examine the relative inuence
of genes and environment on variation in attachment orientation,
avoidance appears to be more strongly inuenced by the social
environment; anxiety may be more strongly inuenced by genetic
factors, which were not measured in the current study (Brussoni,
Jang, Livesley, & MacBeth, 2000; Crawford et al., 2007; Fraley
et al., 2013).
That individuals with more nurturant caregivers became
decreasingly avoidant from age 14 to 23 raises questions about
the mechanisms underlying personality change during this period.
Perhaps early experiences nudge a person towards a particular
51
outcome, but the interactions between an individual and his/her
environment ultimately drives his/her development further, as
people actively shape and interpret their social environments
(Caspi & Bem, 1990; Fraley & Roberts, 2005). Based on the mecha-
nisms underlying person-environment transactions, it is possible
that people become more entrenched in their attachment orienta-
tions over time (i.e., becoming more avoidant over time). Caspi and
Bem (1990) suggest at least three mechanisms to explain why peo-
ples attitudes, behavior, and beliefs are so persistent: proactive,
reactive, and evocative processes (also reviewed in Fraley &
Roberts, 2005). First, proactive processes suggest that people seek
out situations that are consistent with their existing tendencies
and beliefs. For instance, a highly avoidant individual may seek
out situations that are less interpersonally risky during emerging
adulthood and therefore maintain their optimal level of safety
and comfort. Second, reactive processes suggest that people inter-
pret and react to similar environments and events in ways consis-
tent with their dispositions. For example, a highly avoidant person
may view an ambiguous situation (e.g., a smirk from a stranger) as
indicative of something potentially threatening and, thus, avoid
the situation altogether (instead of interacting with the stranger).
Third, evocative processes suggest that the behavior of one individ-
ual evokes reinforcing reactions from others. For example, an
avoidant person who acts in a distant way may make another
person uneasy and that person may mimic their behavior, which
reinforces the original avoidant behavior. Similar mechanisms also
likely drive changes in attachment anxiety. Although speculative,
these three mechanisms may lead avoidant individuals to seek
out environments that reify their dispositional tendencies and
interpret events in light of their existing views of the world.
4.1. Limitations and future directions
Does caregiver nurturance continue to predict decreases in
avoidance at ages 30, 40, or even 50? Although our data cannot
explicitly address this question, meta-analyses of the stability of
other personality traits suggest that personality change generally
slows down after young adulthood (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000;
Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006). Large cross-sectional stud-
ies of age differences in adult attachment orientation also shows
that the largest differences in attachment occur in young adult-
hood (Chopik & Edelstein, in press; Chopik et al., 2013). Thus, as
personality changes at a much slower rate and beings to crystallize
after young adulthood, early childhood experiences may continue
to exert a static inuence for the remainder of the lifespan. Only
longitudinal samples with multiple assessment points (similar to
the current study) will be able to examine the extent to which
early experiences continue to inuence personality development.
Future research can determine whether the inuences of experi-
ences are retained or if they are eventually overwritten by newer
experiences that occur beyond young adulthood (Fraley, 2007).
In the current sample, measures of CAQ attachment were
unavailable between the ages of 3 and 14. Further, there is no single
measure that adequately captures attachment orientation across
the entire lifespan, making it particularly difcult to study changes
over long developmental periods (Crowell, Fraley, & Shaver, 2008;
Fraley, 2002; Magai, 2008). Future research would benet from
the development of attachment measures that capture the transi-
tion from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood,
which would provide a more comprehensive picture of how attach-
ment orientations change over time. Finally, our sample relied on a
relatively small number of participants, self-reports of maternal
nurturance, and observer-reports of childrens personality in
emerging adulthood. Future research should examine developmen-
tal questions about the enduring inuence of early experiences
using larger samples of participants and more diverse measures
52 W.J. Chopik et al. / Journal of Research in Personality 53 (2014) 4753
of parenting and attachment orientation. The inuence of other
relationships in a childs life (e.g., other caregivers, peers, teachers)
on their later personality development is also unclear. Future
studies of the development of attachment orientations should take
a more holistic perspective by including additional characteristics
of an individuals social environment.
4.2. Conclusion
The current study illustrates how early caregiving experiences
continue to shape and inuence personality development, even
years after these experiences occur. Our study is also one of the
only empirical investigations of changes in attachment orienta-
tions during emerging adulthood. As expected, we found that
attachment anxiety decreased from age 14 to 18 and then
increased from age 18 to 23; avoidance decreased from age 14 to
23. We also demonstrated that caregiver nurturance at age 3
predicted decreasing levels of avoidance during emerging
adulthood. These ndings advance knowledge of the inuence of
early caregiving experiences by suggesting that parenting experi-
ences in early childhood become increasingly inuential during
particularly challenging developmental periods.
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