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. 2007 Jul-Aug;78(4):1222-39.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01062.x.

The relation of attachment security to adolescents' paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior

Joseph P Allen  1 , Maryfrances Porter, Christy McFarland, Kathleen Boykin McElhaney, Penny Marsh
Affiliations

The relation of attachment security to adolescents' paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior

Joseph P Allen et al. Child Dev. 2007 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

The relation of attachment security to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning was examined in a community sample of 167 early adolescents. Security of attachment organization, assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview, was linked to success in establishing autonomy while maintaining a sense of relatedness both with fathers and with peers, even after accounting for predictions from qualities of the mother-teen relationship. Growth curve analyses revealed links of insecurity to increasing patterns of externalizing behavior and higher and stable patterns of depressive symptoms across adolescence. Implications for a developing theory of the connections of the attachment system to multiple domains of functioning in adolescence are discussed.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Moderating effect of gender on attachment security in predicting depressive symptoms.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Growth in externalizing behaviors as related to attachment security.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aber JL, Allen JP. Effects of maltreatment on young children’s socioemotional development: An attachment theory perspective. Developmental Psychology. 1987;23:406– 414.
    1. Achenbach TM, Edelbrock CS. Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry; 1991.
    1. Allen JP, Hall FD, Insabella GM, Land DJ, Marsh PA, Porter MR. Supportive behavior coding system. Charlottesville: University of Virginia; 2001a.
    1. Allen JP, Hauser ST. Autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of young adults’ states of mind regarding attachment. Development & Psychopathology. 1996;8:793–809.
    1. Allen JP, Hauser ST, Bell KL, McElhaney KB, Tate DC, Insabella GM, et al. The autonomy and relatedness coding system. University of Virginia; 2000. Unpublished manuscript.

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