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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Attachment and the representation of intimate relationships in adulthood
T L Morrison1, A J Urquiza, B L Goodlin-Jones
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Davis 95817, USA. TLMorrison@UCDavis.edu
Abstract:
Community college students in the United States (151 men, 217 women) described their current or most recent intimate relationship on questionnaires derived from the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (Benjamin & Friedrich, 1991). Attachment organization was assessed by categories (secure, avoidant, or ambivalent) and by dimensions (Attachment Security x Level of Activation). Respondents with avoidant or ambivalent attachment described more hostility in their relationships than secure participants did. Avoidant participants described themselves as less submissive. Respondents with low attachment security and high attachment activation were especially likely to describe more hostile patterns of interaction. Those with greater attachment security also described more interdependence in the relationship. No interaction effects of attachment with amount of experience in close relationships were found.
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