Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Attachment
A Three-Level Meta-Analytic Review
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21737698 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Song Li (0000-0002-6976-4696, Southwest University), Yuanxiao Ma (0000-0002-0743-1546, Nanjing Normal University), Xiaojun Cao (0009-0007-4529-0880, Sichuan Normal University), Junjun Liu (0000-0001-8666-4809, Nanchong Central Hospital), Yueyang Qi (Nanjing Normal University), Xu Chen (0000-0002-8164-3088, Southwest University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 15248380261455767-15248380261455767 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Trauma Violence & Abuse (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1524-8380 • E-ISSN: 1552-8324 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/15248380261455767 |
| PMID | 42365499 |
| OpenAlex | W7166453616 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Childhood maltreatment is widely recognized as a significant risk factor for the development of insecure attachment. However, empirical evidence on the strength and direction of this relationship remains mixed. To address this gap, we conducted two three-level meta-analyses to (a) estimate the overall associations between childhood maltreatment and adult attachment and (b) examine key moderators of these associations. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across five databases. Two three-level meta-analyses were employed to account for the dependence among effect sizes within studies. The analyses comprised 1,304 effect sizes derived from 228 independent samples across 211 studies, with 82,376 participants. Results revealed significant and positive correlations between childhood maltreatment and both attachment anxiety ( r = 0.23) and avoidance ( r = 0.20), with stronger associations observed for emotional maltreatment and when multidimensional measurement tools were employed. These findings suggest that adverse caregiving experiences have an enduring impact on attachment across the lifespan. This highlights the importance of implementing policies to reduce the incidence of childhood maltreatment and developing intervention programs to help affected adults rebuild secure attachment bonds
Adverse Childhood Experiences · Anxiety · Injury prevention · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child Abuse and Trauma · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Intimate Partner and Family Violence
Attachment as an Organizational Framework for Research on Close Relationships
Child maltreatment and insecure attachment
Fitting three-level meta-analytic models in R
Long-term Cognitive, Psychological, and Health Outcomes Associated With Child Abuse and Neglect
Revising Working Models Across Time
Evaluating meta-analytic methods to detect selective reporting in the presence of dependent effect sizes.
Impact of Child Maltreatment on Attachment and Social Rank Systems
Childhood Maltreatment and Relationship Quality
Linking Adverse Childhood Effects and Attachment
Insecure Adult Attachment and Child Maltreatment
Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Adulthood Romantic Relationship Well-Being
Partner Effects of Childhood Maltreatment
Association of Parent–child Experiences with Insecure Attachment in Adulthood
Models of the self and other
Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples
The relationship between adult attachment and mental health
The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style
Attachment styles among young adults
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |