The Attachment Style Interview

The ASI is an interview which assesses characteristics of current adult attachment style in relation to a person's ability to access and utilise social support. As such it belongs to the ‘social psychology' strand of investigation of attachment style. It was developed by Professor Antonia Bifulco and her team at the Lifespan Research Group.

The ASI provides a categorisation of attachment style for individuals, as well as assesses their specific support context and quality of close relationships. The resulting attachment profile not only determines which style best characterises them (e.g. Secure, Enmeshed, Fearful, Angry-dismissive or Withdrawn), but also the extent to which the insecure styles are dysfunctional in terms of whether the person is ‘Markedly', ‘Moderately' or ‘Mildly' Insecure. This is important, given evidence that ‘Mildly Insecure' styles carry less risk of mental health problems.

To date there are two versions of the ASI that have been developed. The ASI for Research, Clinical and Practice use (ASI-RCP), tailored towards psychologists and psychiatrist working in research and clinical and forensic practice fields, and ASI for Children's Services, tailored towards practice requirements of Adoption & Fostering and Child Care services.

ASI-RCP training is run by Professor Bifulco and her team at Lifespan Research Group, at Kingston University London (training courses take place in Central London). The ASI for Children's Services training courses are co-ordinated by Bill Joyce at Child & Family Training.

Latest: Attachment Style Interview - new courses for trained ASI practitioners:
Parenting Role Interview (PRI) Training *
Advanced ASI
Adolescent ASI

* Please note that the PRI is also available as a standalone training course for those not previously trained in ASI

NEW: introducing the Electronic Attachment Style Interview pack