The parallels in adult behavior are that adults feel more secure when their partner is accessible and responsive and they seek comfort and protection from their partner, when distressed or threatened. Secure children have caregivers that remained nearby and responsive during infancy and supportive throughout childhood. As toddlers, their ventures to establish other relationships are generally met with warmth, responsiveness, and consistent availability. This results in secure attachment and the child's ability to confidently explore the world, initiate sociable interactions, and fall back on caregivers for support. Their relationships with others will be marked by excessive demand for attention or withdrawing into relevant isolation.
Avoidant children face caregivers that are cold and distant or outright rejecting.
They, in turn, avoid or ignore the caregiver and have a very difficult time establishing close relationships with others. Shaver and Hazan suggested that the same three attachments styles established during infancy apply to behavior in adult relationships. I don't worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me. I often worry that my partner doesn't really love me or won't want to stay with me. I want to get very close to my partner, and this sometimes scares people away.