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. 2006 Mar;8(1):33-46.
doi: 10.1080/14616730600585250.

Attachment organization as a moderator of the link between friendship quality and adolescent delinquency

Kathleen Boykin McElhaney  1 , Annalies Immele, Felicia D Smith, Joseph P Allen
Affiliations

Attachment organization as a moderator of the link between friendship quality and adolescent delinquency

Kathleen Boykin McElhaney et al. Attach Hum Dev. 2006 Mar.

Abstract

This study examined attachment organization as a moderator of the link between the quality of the adolescents' current friendships and delinquent behavior. Data were gathered from a moderately at-risk sample of 71 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse adolescents. Results revealed a moderating effect of attachment organization (as assessed by the AAI) such that strong and supportive friendships were linked to lower levels of delinquency, but only when adolescents' attachment organization reflected an orientation toward heightened attention to attachment relationships (via preoccupation or via clear lack of dismissal of attachment). These results suggest that attachment organization plays an important role in delineating the conditions under which the qualities of social relationships are likely to be linked to important psychosocial outcomes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interaction of adolescent’s level of preoccupation with attachment and friendship quality in predicting delinquency.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Interaction of adolescent’s use of dismissing attachment strategies and friendship quality in predicting delinquency.
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