adolescent attachment state-of-mind and parent-adolescent relationship quality: joint longitudinal...
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Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues during AdolescenceTRANSCRIPT
Adolescent attachment state-of-mind and parent-adolescent relationship quality:
Joint longitudinal predictors of social and emotional functioning
Kathleen Boykin McElhaney & Joseph P. AllenUniversity of Virginia
Jill Antonishak, PhD.Glenda Insabella, Ph.D.Debbie Land, Ph.D. Maryfrances Porter, Ph.D.Mindy Schmidt, Ph.D.
Collaborators:Joanna ChangoMegan SchadClaire Stephenson
Jennifer HaynesKatie LittlePenny MarshNell ManningF. Christy McFarlandJessica MeyerWrenn ThompsonFarah Williams
Copies of this and related papers are available at:WWW.TEENRESEARCH.ORG
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence?
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues
during Adolescence
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues
during Adolescence– Cognitive development
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues
during Adolescence– Cognitive development→ Increased
perspective taking with regard to attachment relationships
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues
during Adolescence– Quality of ongoing relationships with
parents
Emotional Security within the Family Context What might this look like during
adolescence? Step Back: Developmental Issues
during Adolescence– Quality of ongoing relationships with
parents→ low conflict + high warmth = emotional security
What are relative contributions of these two indexes of emotional security?– Views of attachment relationships– Quality of parent-teen relationships
Emotional Security within the Family Context
What are relative contributions of these two indexes of emotional security?– Views of attachment relationships– Quality of parent-teen relationship
Long-Term Outcomes: Social, emotional and behavioral adjustment
Emotional Security within the Family Context
Sample 184 Adolescents and their Parents
Equal numbers of Males and Females
Assessed Annually (Age 13 to Age 19)
Highly Socio-economically Diverse (Median Family Income= $40- $60K)
31% African American; 69% European American
Measures: Emotional Security Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
(George, Kaplan & Main, 1996)– Administered when adolescents were
approximately 14 years old (T2)– 1-hour semi-structured interview– Reliably coded using Kobak et al., (1993)
Q-sort technique
Measures: Emotional Security Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
(George, Kaplan & Main, 1996)– Yields Two Scales:
• Attachment Security• Preoccupation with Attachment
Measures: Emotional Security Attachment Security
– Reflects coherence in discourse about episodic and semantic memories of attachment experiences.
– Openness to remembering and discussing affectively charged attachment experiences
– Balance in considering positive and negative aspects of attachment relationships
Measures: Emotional Security Preoccupation with Attachment
– Unfocused, rambling discourse – Overly involved and angry when discussing
affectively charged attachment experiences
– Very little ability to step back and objectively evaluate attachment relationships
Measures: Emotional Security Quality of Parent-Teen Relationships
– Focus on mother-teen relationship
Measures: Emotional Security Quality of Parent-Teen Relationships
– Focus on mother-teen relationship– Mothers’ reports when adolescents were
approximately 16 years old (T4)
Measures: Emotional Security Quality of Parent-Teen Relationships→
focus on mother-teen relationship– Mother-Adolescent Conflict: Parent Child
Conflict Questionnaire – Mother-Adolescent Affection: Expression of
Affection
Measures: Adolescent Social, Emotional & Behavioral Functioning Adolescents’ Self-Reports
Measures: Adolescent Social, Emotional & Behavioral Functioning Adolescents’ Self-Reports
– Gathered at T6 (adolescents 18-19 years old)
Measures: Adolescent Social, Emotional & Behavioral Functioning Social Functioning
– Attachment to Friends (Inventory of Parent & Peer Attachment)
Emotional Functioning– Depressive Symptoms (Beck Depression
Inventory) Behavioral Functioning
– Aggressive Behavior (Adult Self-Report)
Research Questions What are relative contributions of these
two indexes of emotional security to long-term outcomes for teens? – Adolescents’ Attachment Organization
(level of security & preoccupation at age 14)
– Motter-Reported Quality of Mother-Adolescent Relationship (conflict & warmth at age 16)
Data Analysis Conducted series of hierarchical regressions All models account for gender & family income Predictors:
– AAI Security & Preoccupation (T2, age 14)– MR Level of Conflict & Affection (T4, age 16)
Long-Term Outcomes (T6,Age 18):– SR Attachment to Friends– SR Depressive Symptoms– SR Aggressive Behavior
Emotional Security and Social Functioning
Self-Reported Attachment to Friends (Age 18)
Entry
Final R2 Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
.27* -.08
.22*-.09 .09* .13*
Teens who are secure at age 14 report having better relationships with their friends in late adolescence (age 18).
Emotional Security and Social Functioning
Self-Reported Attachment to Friends (Age 18)
Entry
Final R2 Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
.27* -.08
.22*-.09 .09* .13*
Mother-Adol Conflict (Age 16)Maternal Exp of Affection (Age 16)
-.19* .24**
-.19* .24** .08** .21***
Teens who are secure at age 14, AND those who have less conflictual and more affectionate relationships with their
mother at age 16, report having better relationships with their friends in late adolescence (age 18).
Emotional Security and Emotional Functioning
Self-Reported Depression(Age 18)
Entry
Final R2 Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
.11 .33**
.12 .34** .07* .09*
Teens who are more preoccupied at age 14report feeling more depressed during late adolescence
(age 18).
Emotional Security and Emotional Functioning
Self-Reported Depression(Age 18)
Entry
Final R2 Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
.11 .33**
.12 .34** .07* .09*
Mother-Adol Conflict (Age 16)Maternal Exp of Affection (Age 16)
-.02 -.05
-.02-.05 .00 .09*
Quality of emotional security in relationships with mothers at age 16 does not contribute to the prediction of the level of
depressive symptoms at age 18, over and above preoccupation.
Emotional Security and Behavioral Functioning
Self-Reported Aggression(Age 18)
Entry
Final R2
Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
-.08 .31**
-.04 .33** .12* .13*
Teens who are more preoccupied at age 14 report engaging in more aggressive behavior at age 18.
Emotional Security and Behavioral Functioning
Self-Reported Aggression(Age 18)
Entry
Final R2
Total R2
Security (Age 14)Preoccupation (Age 14)
-.08 .31**
-.04 .33** .12* .13*
Mother-Adol Conflict (Age 16)Maternal Exp of Affection (Age 16)
-.01 -.19*
-.01-.19* .03 .16*
Teens who are more preoccupied at age 14, ANDthose who have more distant (less affectionate) relationships
with their mothers at age 16 report engaging in more aggressive behavior at age 18.
Research Questions What are relative contributions of these
two indexes of emotional security? – Adolescents’ Attachment Organization
(level of security & preoccupation at age 14)
– Self-Reported Quality of Mother-Adolescent Relationship (conflict & warmth at age 16)
Research Questions What are relative contributions of these two
indexes of emotional security? Being able to objectively evaluate attachment
relationships (age 14) AND experiencing ongoing emotional security in relationships with mothers (age 16) are both important for adolescents’ own views of relationships with friends (age 18).
Research Questions What are relative contributions of these
two indexes of emotional security? Lacking perspective on attachment
relationships (age 14) does not predict how teens view relationships later on, but does predict higher levels of psychopathology, in terms of both depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior (age 18).
Research Questions Security and quality of relationship with
moms matter most for adolescents’ own views of relationships → can they trust their friends?
Research Questions Security and quality of relationship with
moms matter most for adolescents’ own views of relationships → can they trust their friends?
Preoccupied attachment matters most for feeling badly about one’s self, and actual interactions with others → how they act with friends.
Overall Conclusions
Emotional security remains as important during adolescence as it is during childhood
Overall Conclusions
Emotional security remains as important during adolescence as it is during childhood
Both attachment organization and ongoing quality of relationships with parents represent important indices of emotional security.