Constructing the Japanese version of the Adult Attachment Style Scale (ECR)

Abstract

This study attempted to adapt into Japanese the Adult Attachment Style Scale (ECR: Experiences in Close Relationships inventory) that was constructed by Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998), based on 14 existing scales. Of 387 respondents, 231 who reported having been or are currently involved in romantic relationships were employed for final analysis. We examined validities of the Japanese version of ECR in the two ways: (1) Examining the correlations between "Anxiety" and Self-esteem scale by Rosenberg (1965) which were theoretically related to Self-view, and the correlations between "Avoidance" and Other-view scale by Kato (1999b) which were theoretically related to Other-view; (2) whether or not ECR represents the features of four attachment styles as classified by Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). The results supported our expectations. This Japanese version of ECR was demonstrated to have adequate psychometric properties in validity and reliability.

I Am Not in Your Shoes: Low Perspective Taking Mediating the Relation Among Attachment Insecurities and Physical Intimate Partner Violence in Chilean University Students

“…The two-dimensional factor structure of the ECR has been observed in the Chilean version (Spencer et al, 2013). The ECR has been used across the world because of its high test-retest reliability, high internal consistency, and good convergent validity (e.g., Alonso-Arbiol, Balluerka, Brennan et al, 1998;Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003;Mallinckrodt & Wang, 2004;Nakao & Kato, 2004;Spencer et al, 2013). Alpha coefficients for the current sample were .84 for anxiety and .85 for avoidance.…”

The role of mindfulness and attachment security in facilitating resilience

“…For Japanese participants, the Japanese version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR) developed by Nakao and Kato [ 35 ] was used to measure attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance of adult attachment. According to ECR, there are 26 items in total, with 9 items for attachment anxiety and 17 items for attachment avoidance.…”

Selecting the Best Items for a Short-Form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire

“…The two-dimensional factor structure of the ECR has been observed in samples of men and women (Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003), and in homosexual and heterosexual, clinical and nonclinical adult populations (Alonso-Arbiol, Balluerka, & Shaver, 2007;Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003;Matte, Lemieux, & Lafontaine, 2009;Picardi, Bitetti, Puddu, & Pasquini, 2000). This structure is also evident in many translations of the ECR into languages other than English, including Chinese (Mallinckrodt & Wang, 2004), Dutch (Conradi, Gerlsma, van Duijn, & de Jonge, 2006), French (Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003), Hebrew (Mikulincer & Florian, 2000), Italian (Picardi et al, 2000), Japanese (Nakao & Kato, 2004), and Spanish (Alonso-Arbiol et al, 2007). The ECR has been used worldwide because of its high reliability and validity, demonstrated in many correlational and experimental studies; for example: (a) convergent validity with measures of relationship satisfaction, psychological distress, fear of intimacy, romantic dependence, accommodation strategies, and self-esteem, among other constructs; (b) high test-retest reliability (ranging from .50 to .75 depending on the nature of the study and the time span being assessed); and (c) high internal consistency (for both subscales, anxiety and avoidance, near or above .90; e.g., Alonso-Arbiol et al, 2007;Brennan et al, 1998;Conradi et al, 2006;Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003;Mallinckrodt & Wang, 2004;Nakao & Kato, 2004).…”