Anxiety
Attachment Pattern Assessment
Attachment Pattern Assessment
A structured assessment tool for clinical use.
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Attachment Pattern Assessment
For each situation described below, check the box next to the response that best reflects your experience.
| Situation | Your Response (Select one) |
|---|---|
| When you were upset or scared as a child. | ☐ a) Sought comfort and support from my caregivers ☐ b) Felt uncertain about seeking comfort and support ☐ c) Avoided seeking comfort and support ☐ d) Felt confused and unsure how to seek comfort and support |
| Your memory of your caregivers’ behavior. | ☐ a) Consistently responsive and nurturing ☐ b) Sometimes responsive, but other times unpredictable ☐ c) Distant and emotionally unavailable ☐ d) Exhibiting erratic or frightening behaviors |
| When your caregivers left you as a child. | ☐ a) Felt confident they would return and took it in stride ☐ b) Felt uncertain about their return and worried about being abandoned ☐ c) Felt indifferent or unaffected by their absence ☐ d) Felt anxious and fearful about their departure and return |
| Your recollection of childhood relationships. | ☐ a) I felt safe and secure ☐ b) I often felt anxious or uncertain ☐ c) I felt detached or emotionally distant ☐ d) I experienced a mix of conflicting emotions |
| When caregivers were dismissive of your needs. | ☐ a) Persistently sought their attention and validation ☐ b) Felt frustrated and tried different ways to get their attention ☐ c) Became self-reliant and minimized my emotional needs ☐ d) Experienced confusion in seeking their attention |
| Your comfort expressing yourself as a child. | ☐ a) Comfortable expressing my emotions and needs ☐ b) Comfortable expressing some emotions and needs ☐ c) Suppressed or denied my emotions and needs ☐ d) Felt overwhelmed or confused by my emotions and needs |
| When your caregivers were upset or distressed. | ☐ a) Felt concerned and tried to comfort them ☐ b) Felt uncertain about how to respond to their distress ☐ c) Felt indifferent or detached from their distress ☐ d) Felt overwhelmed or helpless in the face of their distress |
| How your childhood attachment experiences can be described. | ☐ a) Consistently positive and nurturing ☐ b) Mixed, with some positive and some challenging experiences ☐ c) Emotionally distant or neglectful ☐ d) Inconsistent and unpredictable |
| How you tend to handle conflict in relationships now. | ☐ a) Seek resolution and maintain a sense of closeness ☐ b) Feel anxious or uncertain about the conflict and its resolution ☐ c) Avoid conflict and emotional engagement ☐ d) Experience confusion or ambivalence in resolving conflicts |
| The primary feeling you had from your caregivers. | ☐ a) Loved and valued ☐ b) Insecure or unsure about being loved and valued ☐ c) Unimportant or unloved ☐ d) Conflicted or unsure about their love and value |
| Your current thoughts on close relationships. | ☐ a) Feel comfortable and secure in forming and maintaining them ☐ b) Feel uncertain or anxious about forming and maintaining them ☐ c) Prefer independence and avoid dependence on others ☐ d) Experience a mix of desire for closeness and fear of dependence |
| When caregivers criticized or rejected you. | ☐ a) Felt hurt but understood they still loved me ☐ b) Felt hurt and doubted my worthiness of love ☐ c) Felt unaffected or detached from their criticism ☐ d) Felt confused or overwhelmed by their criticism |
| The sense you had in your childhood relationships. | ☐ a) Security and trust ☐ b) Ambivalence or uncertainty ☐ c) Independence and self-reliance ☐ d) Confusion or unpredictability |
| Your perception of your caregivers’ presence. | ☐ a) Reliably present and attentive ☐ b) Sometimes present, but inconsistent in their attention ☐ c) Emotionally distant or unavailable ☐ d) Unpredictable or volatile in their presence and attention |
| Your reaction to separation or distance in relationships. | ☐ a) Maintain a sense of connection and trust ☐ b) Experience anxiety or uncertainty about the relationship’s stability ☐ c) Feel comfortable with distance and independence ☐ d) Feel unsettled or anxious about the relationship’s continuity |
| The emotional support you received as a child. | ☐ a) Consistent emotional support and understanding ☐ b) Varied emotional support and understanding ☐ c) Limited emotional support and understanding ☐ d) Inconsistent emotional support and understanding |
| Your tendency when experiencing rejection or abandonment. | ☐ a) Recover relatively quickly and seek new connections ☐ b) Struggle with self-doubt and fear of further rejection ☐ c) Remain emotionally detached and unaffected ☐ d) Feel overwhelmed or confused by the rejection |
| Your memory of your caregivers’ attentiveness. | ☐ a) Attentive and responsive to my needs and emotions ☐ b) Sometimes attentive, but other times preoccupied ☐ c) Distant or emotionally unavailable most of the time ☐ d) Inconsistent or unpredictable in their attentiveness |
| How you typically handle your own emotional distress. | ☐ a) Seek support from others and express my emotions openly ☐ b) Feel hesitant to seek support and struggle with emotional expression ☐ c) Prefer to handle emotions independently and avoid seeking support ☐ d) Experience confusion in managing and expressing emotions |
| Your overall perception of your childhood attachment. | ☐ a) Positive and nurturing ☐ b) Mixed, with both positive and challenging aspects ☐ c) Emotionally distant or neglectful ☐ d) Complex and inconsistent |
Scoring
Count the number of times you selected each letter and enter the totals below.
| Total A | Total B | Total C | Total D |
|---|---|---|---|
Results
The letter with the highest total suggests a primary attachment pattern.
| If your highest score is: | Your primary pattern is: |
|---|---|
| A | Secure |
| B | Anxious-Ambivalent |
| C | Avoidant |
| D | Disorganized |
Generated with Rapport7 — rapport7.com