Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine
Open Access

Abstract

Simpson and colleagues (Simpson, 1990; Simpson, Rholes, & Phillips, 1996) developed the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) which was one of the first quantitative instruments. Exploratory factor analysis found support for two common factors (attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance), AAQ used 17 items. Graham and Uterschute (2015) reported .78 coefficient alpha reliability estimates for both common factors. Carver and colleagues (Carver, 1997; Kim & Carver, 2007) developed a quantitative instrument named the Measure of Attachment Quality (MAQ) which consisted of 13 items designed to measure significant other relationships. Exploratory factor analysis found support for three common factors: secure, anxious, and avoidant (Kim & Carver, 2007). The purpose of this educational intervention was to design a questionnaire that would measure attachment styles, that could be applied to the professional relationships between nursing students and their patients. A quantitative instrument (i.e., Nursing Attachment Styles Questionnaire; NASQ) was designed with 33 items with 11 items measuring secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment styles. The participants (N=247) were BSN nursing students. Hypothesis 1: Determine whether attachment measured with the NASQ items would be a multi-dimensional construct (i.e., two or more common factors). This hypothesis would be tested by using exploratory principal axis factor analysis (EPAFA). Hypothesis 2: Determine if the reliability estimate(s) would be greater than .80 for engagement common factors. Hypothesis 3: Determine whether secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment as measured by the NASQ, AAQ and MAQ scales were significantly correlated with the theoretically designed constructs. Undergraduate BSN nursing students (N=247) responses were analyzed via EPAFA with an oblimin rotation. Three common factors (secure, anxious, avoidant) accounted for 64% of the variance (eigen values = 12.455, 5.71, 2.963). Each of the theoretically designed items loaded on the respective common factors. Coefficient alpha reliability estimates were .93 (secure), .933 (anxious), and .947 (avoidant). Correlations coefficients were significantly correlated among the NASQ, AAQ, and MAQ scales.

Biography

Dale M Hilty, Associate Professor, received his PhD in counseling psychology from Department of Psychology at the Ohio State University. He has published studies in the areas of psychology, sociology and religion. Between April 2017 and April 2018, his ten research teams published 55 posters at local, state, regional, national, and international nursing conferences.

E-mail: dhilty@mccn.edu