| Measure Description | Source of measure | Waters, E. (1987). Appendix A: The Attachment Q-Set Version 3.0. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60, 234-246. doi: 10.2307/1166181; Waters, E. (1987). Attachment Q-set (Version 3). Retrieved (11 Sept 2017) from http://www.johnbowlby.com. |
| Mode of administration | Home observation | |
| Age range for use | 1 to 5 | |
| Domains Assessed | Attachment: security scale and dependency scale. | |
| Related Measures | Strange Situation Procedure | |
| Burden | Training needed to administer | Training occurs over the course of a few months, during which trainees watch videotapes and practice coding the AQS. |
| Minutes to complete | 2 observations of 1.5-2 hours each | |
| # of items | 90 | |
| Cost | No | |
| Adaptation for AIAN use | Adapted | No |
| Developer allows adaptation? | Yes, contact developer. | |
| Used with AIAN populations? | None documented. | |
| Psychometrics | Norm-referenced | No |
| AIAN: Cronbach's alpha range | Not yet available. | |
| AIAN: Evidence of validity | Not yet available. | |
| Other populations: Cronbach's alpha range | Interrater reliability across 22 studies ranged from .94 to 1.00, and the AQS demonstrates modest stability over time (r = .28; van IJzendoorn, Veriejken, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Risken-Walraven, 2004). | |
| Other populations: Evidence of validity | A meta-analysis of studies using the AQS supports the validity of the observer AQS, demonstrating its convergent validity with the SSP (r = .31), predictive validity with sensitivity (r = .39) and socio-emotional competence (r = .22) and divergent validity with measures of temperament (van IJzendoorn, Veriejken, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Risken-Walraven, 2004). The AQS also shows convergent validity with story-stem attachment tasks (Waters, Rodrigues, & Ridgeway, 1998). | |
| Source | Developer | Everett Waters, PhD |
| Link | psychology.sunysb.edu | |
| Summary | Comments about sensitivity to change | AQS scores were improved in the intervention group following a short-term attachment-based intervention in a group of maltreating families (Moss et al., 2011). Attachment security, assessed by AQS, also improved following both home visiting and attachment-based programs (Niccols, 2008). |
| General remarks | The AQS can also be adapted for use in child care settings to assess a child's attachment style to his/her child care provider(s). |
Table Updated October 10, 2017