Family communication patterns and emerging adults’ attachment with parents and romantic partners

ABSTRACT Research has repeatedly shown the influences of family communication patterns on both individual well-being and family functioning. However, although attachment theory also emphasizes the significance of family interactions, very few studies have looked at the associations between family communication patterns and individuals’ attachment orientations. Relying on cross-sectional data collected from 238 emerging adults recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), this study examined how family communication patterns related to emerging adults’ attachment orientations toward their parents and romantic partners. Results showed that conformity orientation consistently predicted attachment anxiety and avoidance in both parent-child and romantic contexts, while conversation orientation only predicted emerging adults’ attachment avoidance toward parents. Further, conversation orientation strengthened the positive associations between conformity orientation and attachment insecurity. Overall, the findings suggest that conformity-oriented family communication might lead to attachment anxiety and avoidance across emerging adults’ close relationships, and consensual families might have the least securely-attached emerging adults.