Brief Description
The State Adult Attachment Measure (SAAM) captures temporary variations in adult attachment and measures 3 aspects of adult attachment: anxiety, avoidance, and security. Attachment styles are thought to reflect individuals’ cognitive–affective “working models” (i.e., mental representations) of self and other and resulting behavioral orientations toward close relationship partners. While initially conceptualized as stable personality dimensions, recent research suggests that levels of attachment are also affected by situational factors; hence the need for a measure that captures fluctuations. Respondents rate how much they agree or disagree with the attachment symptoms listed (e.g., “I wish someone would tell me they really love me”) on a scale from “Disagree Strongly” to “Agree Strongly.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
21
Age Range for Administration
18+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No standardized frequency; recommend administering every other week or as clinically indicated.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The SAAM contains 21 questions scored on a 7-point Likert scale with values from 1 (“Disagree Strongly”) to 7 (“Agree Strongly”). It comprises 3 subscales: Security, Anxiety, and Avoidance. Each of the 3 subscales are scored separately by averaging the item scores associated with each subscale; note, there is no total score. Higher scores are associated with higher levels of each aspect of attachment. See the table below for subscales and associated items.
Subscale | Items |
Security | 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 18, 20 |
Anxiety | 1, 5, 8, 12, 14, 17, 19 |
Avoidance | 2, 3, 9, 10, 15, 16, 21 |
Blueprint Adjustments
While Blueprint provides a total score by default, this should not be interpreted; please refer to subscale scores. When calculating the subscale score, Blueprint rounds the score to the nearest integer.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 5-6 minutes
Attachment anxiety is characterized by insecurity about one’s own worth and abilities, extreme need for interpersonal closeness, love, and support, and constant worrying about being rejected or abandoned.
Attachment avoidance is characterized by reluctance to trust others, an emphasis on autonomy and self-reliance, a relatively low tolerance for interpersonal intimacy and interdependence, and a tendency to down-regulate one’s own emotions.
Attachment security relates to a sense of faith in the responsiveness of attachment figures, one’s own worth and abilities, and comfort with intimacy and interdependence, as well as the relative absence of anxiety and avoidance.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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