Parent-adolescent Attachment Research Articles

Parent–adolescent attachment and procrastination: The mediating role of self-worth

ABSTRACTWithin the theoretical framework of attachment theory, the author examined associations between adolescents' procrastination and their attachment relationships with both mothers and fathers, and explored the potential mediation role of self-worth in these associations. Participants were 384 Chinese adolescents (49.6% boys, average age 15.13 years) from public schools in Shanghai, China. They completed self-report measures of 3 dimensions of parental attachment (i.e., trust, communication, and alienation), general self-worth, and procrastination. The results indicated that both paternal and maternal trust and paternal communication were negatively associated with higher levels of procrastination whereas both paternal and maternal alienation were positively associated with procrastination. In addition, self-worth mediated the associations among 3 dimensions of parental attachment and procrastination. The findings highlighted the importance of parental attachment-based intervention strategies to reduce procrastination among adolescents.

Parent-Adolescent Attachment as Perceived by Adolescents

The study examined adolescents' perception of the quality of parental attachment. The study was undertaken in Jorhat District of Assam. As many as 420 adolescents, aged 14-16 years (210 girls & 210 boys) from 10 schools constituted the sample of the investigation. Adolescents' perception of the quality of parental attachment was assessed by using Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment inventory by Armsden and Greensberg (1987). The inventory measures three broad dimensions of parental attachment such as degree of mutual trust, quality of communication and extent of alienation, separately for mothers and fathers. The results of the study revealed that mutual trust and quality of communication with mothers were higher than the fathers. It was found that adolescents' perceived quality of attachment with their mothers was higher than attachment with fathers. The results further revealed significant gender differences with respect to maternal attachment with girls showing higher attachment with their parents than boys.

Parent–Adolescent Attachment and Interpersonal Relationships in Sports Teams: Exploring the Gender Differences

This study aimed to investigate how gender is related to parent–adolescent attachment and the perception of interpersonal relationships in sports teams. The second goal was to explore whether there are gender differences in the relations between adolescent attachment and their interpersonal relationships in sport-related contexts. The sample included 120 adolescents (59 girls), aged 12 to 15 years. The adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their attachment with their parents and the quality of the relationship with their best friend within the team. The adolescent social competence was rated by their team members and coaches. Compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of benefits of their relationship with their best friend and received higher ratings of social competence from their team mates and coaches. The strengths of the associations between attachment characteristics and interpersonal relationships, however, did not differ based on children’s gender. Our findings suggest the importance of gender in relation to attachment style and interpersonal relationships and reveal that the associations between these variables are similar across the gender group.

Parent–Adolescent Attachment and Academic Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Self-Worth

Within the theoretical framework of attachment theory, this study examined associations between adolescents’ attachment relationships with both mother and father and their academic adjustment, and explored the potential mediation role of self-worth in the associations. Participants were 384 Chinese adolescents (49.6% male, average age = 15.13 years) from public schools in Shanghai, China. They completed self-report measures of mother–adolescent attachment, father–adolescent attachment, general self-worth, academic engagement and school grades. The results indicated that adolescents’ attachments to both parents were associated with higher levels of academic engagement. There was partial support of the mediating role of self-worth, as adolescents who had high levels of parent–adolescent attachment were more likely to have high levels of self-worth, which in turn enhanced their academic engagement and then improved high school grades. The findings highlighted the importance of parental attachment-based intervention strategies to promote and maintain academic adjustment among adolescents.

A process model of the implications of spillover from coparenting conflicts into the parent-child attachment relationship in adolescence.

Drawing on a two-wave, multimethod, multi-informant design, this study provides the first test of a process model of spillover specifying why and how disruptions in the coparenting relationship influence the parent-adolescent attachment relationship. One hundred ninety-four families with an adolescent aged 12-14 (M age = 12.4) were followed for 1 year. Mothers and adolescents participated in two experimental tasks designed to elicit behavioral expressions of parent and adolescent functioning within the attachment relationship. Using a novel observational approach, maternal safe haven, secure base, and harshness (i.e., hostility and control) were compared as potential unique mediators of the association between conflict in the coparenting relationship and adolescent problems. Path models indicated that, although coparenting conflicts were broadly associated with maternal parenting difficulties, only secure base explained the link to adolescent adjustment. Adding further specificity to the process model, maternal secure base support was uniquely associated with adolescent adjustment through deficits in adolescents' secure exploration. Results support the hypothesis that coparenting disagreements undermine adolescent adjustment in multiple domains specifically by disrupting mothers' ability to provide a caregiving environment that supports adolescent exploration during a developmental period in which developing autonomy is a crucial stage-salient task.

Sleep and mental health: the moderating role of perceived adolescent-parent attachment

ObjectiveThe present study investigated whether the effects of sleep duration and quality on adolescent adjustment were moderated by perceived attachment to mothers and fathers. DesignThe study used a cross-sectional design. SettingParticipants were recruited from small town and semirural communities in Alabama. ParticipantsParticipants were 106 adolescents (mean age=13.61 years, SD=.73; 55% girls; 28% African American, 72% European American) and their parents. MeasurementsSleep duration (minutes) and sleep quality (efficiency, number of long wake episodes) were derived using actigraphy, and subjective sleep/wake problems were derived with adolescent reports. Adolescents also reported on perceived attachment to mothers and fathers, internalizing symptoms, and self-esteem. Mothers and fathers reported on externalizing behaviors. ResultsPath model analyses indicated that perceived attachment to parents moderated relations between adolescents' sleep quality and their adjustment. For externalizing symptoms and self-esteem, adolescents at greatest risk for maladjustment were those who reported poor quality sleep (ie, more sleep/wake problems, lower sleep efficiency) coupled with less secure attachment to parents. Conversely, adolescents who experienced better actigraphy-based sleep quality (ie, higher sleep efficiency, fewer long wake episodes) in conjunction with more secure attachment to parents experienced the lowest levels of anxiety symptoms. Less secure attachment was associated with high levels of anxiety symptoms independent of sleep quality. Similar patterns of associations emerged for attachment to mothers and fathers. ConclusionsFindings highlight the importance of examining the conjoint influence of sleep and adolescent-parent relationships toward explication of adolescent's mental health.

Predicting relational security among early adolescent girls

The current study used multiple informants to examine the impact of relationship experiences with parents and romantic partners on relational security among early adolescent girls, over a 1-year period. Seventy-one early adolescent girls and their primary caregivers participated at Time 1 and 1 year later (Time 2). Findings suggest that both parental and romantic relationship experiences impact relational security during early adolescence. The most consistent findings from the current study were the ability of romantic rejection to alter the relational security of early adolescent girls as well as the importance of parent–adolescent attachment security in predicting comfort with intimacy.

Four‐model approach to adolescent–parent attachment relationships and adolescents' loneliness, school belonging, and teacher appraisal

AbstractThis study tested monotropy, hierarchy, independence, and integration conceptual models of adolescent–mother and adolescent–father attachment to explain adolescents' perceived social interrelationships with extrafamilial attachment figures (peers, teachers). Participants included 356 Israeli adolescents (12–15 years). More adolescents were significantly classified as securely attached to mothers than to fathers, but high concordances emerged. Results supported two of the attachment models, hierarchy and integration, as explaining variation in adolescents' perceived extrafamilial interrelationships. As per the hierarchy attachment model, adolescent–mother attachment outweighed adolescent–father attachment to some extent in predicting adolescents' perceived social interrelationship measures. As per the integration attachment model, significant differences emerged on most social interrelationship measures between the 4 distinct subgroups: secure attachment to both parents, neither, only father, only mother. The Discussion section focuses on the unique importance of attachment to each parent for typically developing junior high students.

Different Developmental Pathways from Parental Warmth to Adolescents’ Trust in Peers and Politicians: Mediating Roles of Adolescent–Parent Attachment and Belief in a Just World

The development of trust has its origin in parenting. However, it can be misleading to lump together all types of trust and to suppose that they are formed through similar developmental processes. Therefore, this research examined different developmental pathways of adolescents’ trust in individuals close to them (peers in this study) and those that are distant (politicians in this study). The study used longitudinal data collected from Czech adolescents (N = 904; 50 % of the participants were females). When adolescents were 13 years old, they and their parents reported parental warmth. Adolescents rated their trust in their parents and their beliefs in a just world at age 15 as well as their trust in peers and politicians at age 17. Both maternal and paternal warmth predicted adolescents’ trust in their parents, which in turn led to later trust in peers but not to later trust in politicians. However, maternal and paternal warmth only predicted their trust in politicians through the mediation of their personal belief in a just world. Our findings highlighted that although parents are important in the development of adolescents’ trust, mediating pathways differ depending on the types of relationships involved.

Perceived School Climate and Chinese Adolescents' Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality.

School factors play important roles in adolescent suicide. However, little is known about how school climate is associated with adolescent suicide. This study examined the relationship between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and whether these relations were explained by adolescent sleep quality. A total of 1529 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.74 years; 52% boys) participated in the study. They provided self-report data on control variables, perceived school climate, sleep quality, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. After controlling for sex, age, family structure, socioeconomic status, and parent-adolescent attachment, we found that perceived school climate negatively predicted adolescent suicidal ideation (odds ratio [OR] = 0.66, p < .001) and suicide attempts (OR = 0.72, p < .001). Moreover, perceived school climate positively predicated adolescent sleep quality (β = 0.13, p < .001), which in turn, negatively predicted adolescent suicidal ideation (OR = 0.75, p < .001) and suicide attempts (OR = 0.76, p < .001). These findings, although cross-sectional, indicate that perceived school climate plays an important role in adolescent suicidality. Moreover, the relation between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidality was largely mediated by adolescent sleep quality.

Transmission of the Parent-adolescent Attachment Bond to the Next Generation: A Case-control Study

Background and Goals: Many studies have examined how types of parent-child attachment bond are transmitted from one generation to the next, and how this may be associated with the occurrence of psychological disorders and dysfunctional relationships. In this study, we proposed to investigate the relationship, if any, between dysfunctional attachment bond and psychopathology, and to see whether dysfunctional parent-adolescent attachment bonds are handed down to the next generation. Methods: The clinical group (cases) consisted of 44 adolescents with psychological disorders (21 males and 23 females) with a mean age of 15.3 years ± SD 1.549, attending our Service for Children, Adolescents and Families, ULSS 16 (Padua); the control group consisted of 44 adolescents, matched pairwise for age and gender, recruited at secondary schools in Vicenza. We

Depression among adolescent students in South India: How serious is the issue?

Byline: Divya. Trivedi, Neha. Dhakappa, Parul. Ghildiyal, Shravya. Deekonda, Sumitha. Subramaniam, J. Iyer, M. Kotiyan Sir, An adolescent student experiences several biological, cognitive, social, and psychological changes. These developments, coupled with peer pressure, parental pressure, and the students' own expectations of themselves, make this a very volatile and turbulent phase. As teenaged undergraduate medical students ourselves, we felt that we could reach out to high-school students in a way that adults may not be able to as they would relate better to us and be more forthcoming in their responses. Hence, we conducted this study in an attempt to understand the issues that could lead to depression among adolescent students. We distributed 392 copies of the Beck's depression inventory [sup][1] and a semi-structured questionnaire to the students of classes seven, eight, and nine from three unaided schools. The questionnaire contained questions pertaining to the social factors that could lead to depression. The Chi-square test and SPSS version 17.0 were used for analysis. We found that 88 (22.45%) students were depressed. There were 27 (6.9%) students with borderline depression, 35 (8.9%) with moderate depression, 16 (4.1%) with severe depression, 10 (2.6%) with extreme depression, and mood disturbances among 71 (18.1%). Depression was detected among a significant number ( P = 0.012) of older adolescents (ages 14 and 15 years), and girls were significantly more depressed ( P = 0.016). Students who were comfortable with friends and those who received moral support from their families were significantly less depressed ( P = 0.022 and P = 0.014, respectively). Moderately and severely depressed students displayed abnormal eating habits ( P = 0.014) and those whose families did not spend enough time with them were more susceptible to get depressed ( P Prior studies aimed at assessing the prevalence of depression among adolescent students found relatively lesser numbers of students depressed.[sup][2],[3] Our study found that 22.45% of the students were depressed, and girls were significantly more depressed. The 2007 India Global School-based Student Health Survey found that high levels of reported parental involvement were significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of poor mental health.[sup][4] Negative life events and parent-adolescent attachment relationship quality were associated with mental health problems in adolescents. …

Attachment to Parents during Adolescence and Its Impact on Their Psychological and Social Adjustment

The notion of attachment has been defined in different ways, but something which is identical in all definitions is that attachment is an essential ingredient for normal Human Development. From a developmental perspective, attachment theory has served as an important framework in understanding relationships throughout the lifespan. Attachment theory explains how individuals cope with conflict and assume various interpretations from the behaviors of others. From the experiences of early attachment relationships with a primary caregiver, the internal working model (IWM) becomes a mental representation of expectations and beliefs about the self in relation to others. The parent-child relationship serves as a prototype for future relationships of the child. It is this first relationship that the child uses as a template to apply to future relationship experiences. In short, the qualities of early relationships predict later relationships, and success in later relation-ships takes root in lifespan development. The present article provides a brief synopsis of the changes that occur during adolescence and describes what attachment is, why it continues to be important and how it is transformed during adolescence. It summarizes major findings on the impact of attachment on adolescent adjustment and discusses strategies for supporting healthy adolescent-parent attachment and also describes the secure and insecure attachments, patterns during adolescence towards parents and impact on their social &amp; Psychological adjustment.

Problem Behaviors, Childhood Victimization, and Attachment Quality in Croatian Sample of Community and Referred Psychopathic-Like Adolescents

This study compares differences between community-based psychopathic-like adolescents ( n = 78, 72% males) and referred psychopathic-like adolescents ( n = 67, 70% males) in means, variances, and covariation between problem behaviors, adverse childhood experiences, parental conflict, physical and sexual victimization, and perceived parent–adolescent attachment quality. The psychopathic-like adolescents were identified among a larger pool of 1,346 community-based adolescents and 381 adolescents referred to institutional correctional treatment. Relative to the community group, referred adolescents presented with a distinct profile exhibiting higher levels of impulsive and irresponsible behavioral style, higher rates of problem behaviors and childhood victimization, and lower perceived parent–adolescent attachment quality. However, striking similarities in variances, and, in particular, of the covariation between problem behaviors, victimization, and attachment suggest that comparable processes link familial factors to problem behavior in psychopathic-like adolescents who have avoided contact with juvenile justice system and referred psychopathic-like adolescents.

Adolescent attachment, family functioning and depressive symptoms

Background. Adolescence represents a challenging transitional period where changes in biological, emotional, cognitive and social domains can increase the risk of developing internalised problems including subthreshold depression. Adolescent-parent attachment style, perceived support and family functioning may increase risk for depressive symptoms or may reduce such risk. Adolescent-parent attachment, adolescent-perceived support from parents and family functioning were examined as correlates of depressive symptom presentation within this age group. Methods. Participants included a maternal parent and an adolescent (65.5% female) from each family. Adolescents were in Grade 7 ( n =175) or Grade 10 ( n =31). Data were collected through home interviews. The Self-Report of Family Inventory (SFI), Experiences of Close Relationships Scale (ECR), Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used to assess depression, parental support and attachment. Results. Two models were examined: one with adolescent report of depressive symptoms as the outcome and a second with parent report of adolescent internalising symptoms as the outcome. The model predicting adolescent-reported depressive symptoms was significant with older age, higher levels of avoidant attachment, and higher levels of youth-reported dysfunctional family interaction associated with more depressive symptomatology. In the model predicting parent report of adolescent internalising symptoms only higher levels of dysfunctional family interaction, as reported by the parent, were associated with higher levels of internalising symptoms. Conclusion. Positive family communication, cohesion and support predictive of a secure parent-adolescent attachment relationship reduced the risk of a depressive symptom outcome. Secure adolescents were able to regulate their emotions, knowing that they could seek out secure base attachment relations within their family and from friends during times of stress, buffering against the development of depressive symptoms.

Adolescent attachment, family functioning and depressive symptoms

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background.&lt;/strong&gt; Adolescence represents a challenging transitional period where changes in biological, emotional, cognitive and social domains can increase the risk of developing internalised problems including subthreshold depression. Adolescent-parent attachment style, perceived support and family functioning may increase risk for depressive symptoms or may reduce such risk. Adolescent-parent attachment, adolescent-perceived support from parents and family functioning were examined as correlates of depressive symptom presentation within this age group.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods.&lt;/strong&gt; Participants included a maternal parent and an adolescent (65.5% female) from each family. Adolescents were in Grade 7 (&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt;=175) or Grade 10 (&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt;=31). Data were collected through home interviews. The Self-Report of Family Inventory (SFI), Experiences of Close Relationships Scale (ECR), Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used to assess depression, parental support and attachment. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results. &lt;/strong&gt;Two models were examined: one with adolescent report of depressive symptoms as the outcome and a second with parent report of adolescent internalising symptoms as the outcome. The model predicting adolescent-reported depressive symptoms was significant with older age, higher levels of avoidant attachment, and higher levels of youth-reported dysfunctional family interaction associated with more depressive symptomatology. In the model predicting parent report of adolescent internalising symptoms only higher levels of dysfunctional family interaction, as reported by the parent, were associated with higher levels of internalising symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion. &lt;/strong&gt;Positive family communication, cohesion and support predictive of a secure parent-adolescent attachment relationship reduced the risk of a depressive symptom outcome. Secure adolescents were able to regulate their emotions, knowing that they could seek out secure base attachment relations within their family and from friends during times of stress, buffering against the development of depressive symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;

Indirect aggression and parental attachment in early adolescence: Examining the role of perspective taking and empathetic concern

This study examined the unique and interactive roles of parental attachment and empathy in indirect aggression during early adolescence. A sample of 6301 early adolescents (49.2% boys and 50.8% girls) in urban China, aged from 11 to 14years, completed self-administrated measures of parent-adolescent attachment, empathy, and indirect aggression. Results indicated that perspective taking was negatively associated with indirect aggression, and empathetic concern was not related to indirect aggression. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that perspective taking moderated the association between empathetic concern and boys' indirect aggression. The findings highlighted that empathetic concern might not be a sufficient protective factor of indirect aggression for boys with low levels of perspective taking during early adolescence.

Adolescent-Parent Attachment and Externalizing Behavior: The Mediating Role of Individual and Social Factors.

The aim of this study was to test whether the associations between adolescent-parent attachment and externalizing problem behavior of adolescents were mediated by adolescent cognitive distortions, self-esteem, parental monitoring and association with deviant peers. A total of 102 adolescents (71 % male; aged 12–19 years) at risk for developing delinquent behaviors reported on attachment, parental monitoring, aggressive and delinquent behavior and peers. Mediation effects were tested by using structural equation modeling. Different pathways were found depending on the type of externalizing behavior. The association between attachment and direct and indirect aggressive behavior was mediated by cognitive distortions. The relation between attachment and delinquency was mediated by deviant peers and parental monitoring. We argue that clinical practice should focus on the attachment relationship between adolescent and parents in order to positively affect risk and protective factors for adolescents’ aggressive and delinquent behavior.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9999-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Attachment-based family therapy for depressed and suicidal adolescents: theory, clinical model and empirical support

Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a manualized family-based intervention designed for working with depressed adolescents, including those at risk for suicide, and their families. It is an empirically informed and supported treatment. ABFT has its theoretical underpinnings in attachment theory and clinical roots in structural family therapy and emotion focused therapies. ABFT relies on a transactional model that aims to transform the quality of adolescent–parent attachment, as a means of providing the adolescent with a more secure relationship that can support them during challenging times generally, and the crises related to suicidal thinking and behavior, specifically. This article reviews: (1) the theoretical foundations of ABFT (attachment theory, models of emotional development); (2) the ABFT clinical model, including training and supervision factors; and (3) empirical support.

The Relation of Adolescent Parental Attachment, Separation-Individuation, Ego-Resilience and Peer Attachment

The Relation of Adolescent Parental Attachment, Separation-Individuation, Ego-Resilience and Peer Attachment