What is the AAQ used for?

The Adult Attachment Questionnaire is used to assess how an adult approaches closeness and responds to relational uncertainty. It scores two dimensions, attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, giving clinicians a structured way to understand relationship patterns and to inform interpersonal work in therapy.

How many items are on the AAQ?

The AAQ has 17 items. Respondents rate agreement with each statement on a 7-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The items form an 8-item avoidance subscale and a 9-item anxiety subscale, each averaged to produce a separate dimensional score.

How is the AAQ scored?

Items are grouped into avoidance and anxiety subscales, and the items within each are averaged to a score from 1 to 7. There is no single total. Higher scores reflect greater avoidance or anxiety, and the measure has no established clinical severity thresholds, so scores describe relative standing only.

Does the AAQ diagnose an attachment style?

No. The AAQ produces continuous scores on two dimensions rather than assigning a fixed category. Some frameworks map high or low scores onto styles such as secure or preoccupied, but the questionnaire itself measures degree of anxiety and avoidance and guides clinical decision-making rather than providing a diagnosis.

Is the AAQ free to use?

The Adult Attachment Questionnaire was developed by Jeff Simpson and colleagues as a research instrument and its items have been published in the peer-reviewed literature. It is widely used in academic and clinical settings without a commercial license, though you should always cite the original source when you administer it.

How long does the AAQ take to complete?

Most respondents finish the 17 items in about three to five minutes. Because it is short and self-administered, it fits easily into an intake packet or a single therapy session, and completing it before the visit leaves more time for reviewing the results together.

Adult Attachment Questionnaire | Template & auto-scoring

The Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) is a 17-item self-report measure that assesses adult attachment along two dimensions, anxiety and avoidance. Developed by Jeff Simpson and colleagues, it asks respondents to rate agreement with statements about closeness, trust, and dependence in relationships on a 7-point scale, producing continuous scores rather than fixed categories.

Why healthcare providers use the AAQ

Structured attachment insight. It turns broad relational patterns into two measurable dimensions that clinicians can review consistently.
Brief and self-administered. Seventeen items take only a few minutes, so it fits within intake or a therapy session.
Dimensional scoring. Continuous anxiety and avoidance scores capture nuance that a single categorical label can miss.
Shared clinical language. Results give clinicians and patients a common vocabulary for discussing closeness, trust, and dependence.
Research grounding. It is widely used in attachment research, which supports comparison against a large body of literature.

Which settings use the AAQ?

Outpatient mental health. Therapists use it to inform relational and interpersonal work with individual clients.
Couples and family therapy. Clinicians explore how each person's attachment patterns shape relationship dynamics.
Counseling and psychology practices. Providers add it to intake to understand a patient's relational history.
Research and training settings. Programs use it to study attachment theory or to teach assessment methods.

What does the AAQ measure?

The AAQ measures individual differences in adult attachment orientation. Rather than sorting people into types, it scores two underlying dimensions that together describe how a person approaches intimacy and responds to relational uncertainty.

Attachment avoidance. Discomfort with closeness and dependence, and a preference for emotional self-reliance.
Attachment anxiety. Worry about rejection and abandonment and about a partner's availability or responsiveness.

Scoring the AAQ

Number of items. 17 items in total.
Per-item scale. Each item is rated on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Total score range. Items form an 8-item avoidance subscale and a 9-item anxiety subscale, each averaged to a score from 1 to 7.
Score direction. Higher subscale scores indicate greater attachment avoidance or anxiety.

The AAQ produces two dimensional scores rather than a single total, and it has no established clinical severity thresholds or published cutoffs. Scores describe relative standing on each dimension and should guide clinical decision-making alongside history and interview, not serve as a standalone diagnosis. Consider further assessment when scores, presentation, and history point in the same direction, and always interpret results within the full clinical picture.

Best practices for administration

Explain the purpose. Tell patients it maps relationship patterns and that there are no right or wrong answers.
Set a consistent reference. Ask respondents to answer about relationships in general unless a specific relationship is the focus.
Allow privacy. Let patients complete it without an audience to encourage candid responses.
Score both dimensions. Report anxiety and avoidance separately rather than collapsing them into one number.
Pair with conversation. Review results with the patient to add context and check that they ring true.
Re-administer thoughtfully. If you track change over time, use the same instructions and reference point each time.

How Zentake helps with the AAQ

Automatic scoring. Zentake totals the avoidance and anxiety subscales on submit, so there is no hand-tallying.
Longitudinal tracking. Re-send the AAQ on a schedule and view change over time as therapy progresses.
Before the visit. Patients complete the AAQ from home on any device, so results are ready for mental health practices before the appointment starts.
HIPAA compliant. Responses are encrypted and covered by a signed BAA on every plan.

References

Simpson, J. A. (1990). Influence of attachment styles on romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 971-980. This work introduced the Adult Attachment Questionnaire, later refined by Simpson, Rholes, and Phillips (1996).

For an overview of the two-dimensional anxiety and avoidance model shared by the AAQ and related instruments, see Fraley and Shaver's review of self-report attachment measures.

Last updated: August 2026.

Adult Attachment Questionnaire