Exploring attachment patterns and resilience levels of individuals who emancipated from institutional based care, kinship care, and non-kinship care

The purpose of this research study was to review attachment theory and resilience among individuals who have emancipated from the foster care system and determine if these individuals have adapted to a pattern of secure or insecure attachment. It was determined if the secure or insecure attachment pattern showed to be most resilient among the population being studied. A solicited sample was used to solicit 31 individuals who had emancipated from foster care. The participants completed three assessments; a Demographic Questionnaire, the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS); and the Resilience Scale (RS). The participants were grouped by the type of foster care they emancipated from; non-kinship care, kinship care, or institutional based care. Frequency charts were run on all demographic questions to establish demographics for the population being studied. Statistical Analyses were run on the RAAS and RS to determine the attachment pattern and resilience levels of the participants. It was further determined from this research that the participants who emancipated from kinship care adapted to secure attachment patterns and had higher levels of resilience than did those who emancipated from non-kinship care or institutional based care. The participants emancipating from non-kinship care and institutional based care adapted to patterns of insecure attachment. Overall as a group, the participants had moderately low to moderate levels of resilience.