Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Coins? How Attachment and Alcohol Use Differentially Predict Number of Reported Casual and Committed Sexual Partners.

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to analyze potential predictors of accumulating casual vs. committed sexual partners in emerging adulthood. We used a large, six-wave longitudinal sample from the United States (n = 1,714) to examine how alcohol use and attachment orientation differentially predicted accumulating casual and committed sexual partners. Using structural equation modeling, we found that higher anxious attachment positively predicted the number of reported committed sexual partners (β = 0.09, p < 0.01), while higher avoidant attachment negatively predicted the number of reported casual sexual partners (β = -0.08, p < 0.05). We also found that alcohol use positively predicted both the number of reported casual (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) and committed sexual partners (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) emerging adults accumulated. Further, we tested the strength of the various associations and found that anxious attachment more strongly predicted committed sexual partners, while avoidant attachment and alcohol use more strongly predicted casual sexual partners. This work highlights the need for scholars to distinguish between the type of sexual partners emerging adults accumulate during this time of life.