Explain the relationship between attachment and autonomy, and evaluate the claim that secure attachment promotes personal adjustment.

Attachment is the word psychologists use to describe the social and emotional bonds we form with others, particularly with our parents in childhood. A higher degree of attachment indicates a closer bond, in which you are more dependent on others for emotional support.

Autonomy is the word psychologists use to describe a sense of personal freedom and self-determination, the feeling that you can strike a path for yourself and make your own decisions in life.

Intuitively, it may seem that these two concepts are in opposition---the more autonomous you are, the less attached you can be---but empirical studies do not bear this out. In studies both autonomy and attachment are related to positive mental health outcomes, and occur as often together as they do apart.

In fact, what we find is that secure attachment, where you feel comfortable with how attached you are, is associated with higher autonomy. It's only preoccupied attachment, where you are constantly worried about whether you are doing enough to maintain the connection, which is associated with lower autonomy.

Based on this, the claim that secure attachment promotes improved adjustment and better mental health outcomes appears to be supported by empirical studies. Secure attachment gives people both strong attachment and high autonomy, and both of those things are associated with better outcomes. So, the theory makes sense, and is likely to be true. Still, these studies are ambiguous enough that the theory could turn out to be wrong.