Attachment patterns and peer bullying in adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this work is twofold, (a) to validate the Spanish version of the Adolescent Relationship Scales Questionnaire (ARSQ) and (b) to examine associations between attachment and peer bullying (victimization). A total of 600 adolescents (aged 13-16 years) completed the ARSQ and the CAI-CA (a Spanish questionnaire of bullying victimization). Exploratory factor analyses of the ARSQ yield a structure of three uncorrelated factors which appear to correspond to the secure, fearful/preoccupied and dismissing kinds of attachment, respectively. Girls scored higher than boys on secure and fearful/preoccupied attachment. Thirty-four percent of the sample reported to have been victim of peer bullying. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for age and gender, fearful/preoccupied attachment significantly predicted the risk of being a victim of bullying. Results are discussed in respect of possible implications for the primary prevention of bullying.