Universality and normativity of the attachment theory in non-western psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples: multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

• Main Authors: Abdulhafeeth Alareqe, Naser, Roslan, Samsilah, Mohammed Taresh, Sahar, Nordin, Mohamad Sahari
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2021
• Subjects: LB1044 Internet in Education; LB1050.9 Educational psychology; LB2300 Higher Education
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/92693/7/92693_Universality%20and%20normativity%20of%20the%20attachment%20theory_SCOPUS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92693/8/92693_Universality%20and%20normativity%20of%20the%20attachment%20theory.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92693/; https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5770/pdf; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115770

This study tests for the first time the validity of universality and normativity assumptions related to the attachment theory in a non-Western culture, using a novel design including psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples as part of a comprehensive exploratory and advanced confirmatory framework. Three attachment assessments were distributed to 212 psychiatric outpatients and 300 non-psychiatric samples in Yemen. The results of the fourteen approaches of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) produce a similar result and assertion that the psychiatric outpatients tend to explore attachment outcomes based on multi-methods, while the non-psychiatric samples suggest an attachment orientation based on multi-traits (self–other). The multiple group-confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) demonstrates that the multi-method model fits the psychiatric samples better than the non-psychiatric samples. Equally, the MG-CFA suggests that the multi-traits model also fits the psychiatric samples better than the non-psychiatric samples. Implications of the results are discussed.