Attachment styles in older European American and African American adults

Objectives. Differential attachment styles have been linked to differential emotion regulation and ability to cope with stress in samples of young adu lts. There are few data on attachment styles in older adults despite the fa ct that attachment relationships are said to play a significant role in psy chological well-being throughout the life span. The goal of the study was t o examine attachment patterns in older adults. Methods. Participants were 800 community-dwelling older European Americans and African Americans (M = 74 years) living in a large urban community. Att achment measures included the family and friend intimacy subscales from the Network Analysis Profile and the Relationship Scales Questionnaire. Results. In contrast to findings with younger individuals, where the majori ty of respondents have been found to be secure (i.e., comfortable with clos eness and dependency), the majority of the present sample were found to be dismissing/avoidant (i.e., uncomfortable with closeness, compulsively self- reliant). European Americans scored higher than African Americans on attach ment security, whereas African Americans scored higher than European Americ ans on dismissing attachment. However, the assessment of relatedness based on the Network Analysis Profile, where respondents named their closest kin, indicated that African Americans had higher scores than European Americans , though their networks were smaller. Discussion. Age and ethnicity differences appear to reflect cohort effects related to the impact of economic hardship on families earlier this century and racial prejudice. The high rates of dismissing attachment and low rate s of secure attachment in this large urban population suggest that these in dividuals may be at risk for social isolation and poor health as they becom e older and more frail.