Assessing attachment: convergent validity of the adult attachment interview and the parental bonding instrument

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether or not the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) can provide information about parent-child attachment that is comparable to information obtained from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), a more complex measure of attachment.Method: One hundred and thirty emotionally and/or behaviourally disturbed adolescents (73 male, 57 female; ages 13–19 years, x = 15.3 ± 1.47 years) participating in a study of attachment and suicidality completed the PBI and the AAI. Data from these measures were compared within participants.Results: Maternal care and overprotection on the PBI differed significantly by AAI attachment classification (F3,122 = 2.79, p = 0.012), with autonomous participants showing the most optimal and unresolved participants the least optimal PBI results. Maternal love and maternal involvement/role reversal on the AAI were significant predictors of maternal care and maternal overprotection, respectively, on the PBI (R2 = 0.15; R2 = 0.16). These pred...