Kathleen Boykin McElhaney

Attachment and Autonomy as Predictors of the Development of Social Skills and Delinquency During Midadolescence

This study examined adolescent attachment organization as a predictor of the development of social skills and delinquent behavior during midadolescence. Delinquent activity and skill levels were assessed for 117 moderately at-risk adolescents at ages 16 and 18, and maternal and adolescent attachment organization and autonomy in interactions were assessed at age 16. Adolescent attachment security predicted relative increases in social skills from age 16 to 18, whereas an insecure-preoccupied attachment organization predicted increasing delinquency during this period. In addition, preoccupied teens interacting with highly autonomous mothers showed greater relative decreases in skill levels and increases in delinquent activity over time, suggesting a heightened risk for deviance among preoccupied teens who may be threatened by growing autonomy in adolescent-parent interactions.

Attachment, autonomy, and multifinality in adolescent internalizing and risky behavioral symptoms

A diathesis-stress interaction model is used to describe multifinality in adolescent internalizing and risky behavioral outcomes. Problematic behavior associated with adolescent insecure preoccupation (a diathesis) was expected to interact with the level of maternal autonomous discourse (a stressor) to predict specific adolescent outcomes. Assessments of adolescent preoccupied attachment organization, observations of maternal displays of autonomy in mother-adolescent interactions, and adolescent reports of internalizing symptoms and risky behaviors were obtained at age 16. As predicted, maternal autonomy in the mother-adolescent relationship helped to explain multifinality in dysfunctional symptoms among preoccupied adolescents. Adolescent preoccupation was more strongly linked to internalizing behavior when mothers demonstrated low levels of autonomy in interactions with their adolescents and more strongly linked to risky behavior when mothers displayed extremely high levels of autonomy. Implications for autonomy processes in increasing our understanding of how adolescent insecure-preoccupation relates to profiles of specific problems during adolescence are discussed as is the importance of exploring the role of attachment in different contexts.

When adolescents disagree with others about their symptoms: differences in attachment organization as an explanation of discrepancies between adolescent, parent, and peer reports of behavior problems.

This study examined whether attachment theory could be used to shed light on the often high degree of discordance between self- and observer ratings of behavioral functioning and symptomatology. Interview-based assessments of attachment organization, using the Adult Attachment Interview, were examined as predictors of the lack of agreement between self- and other reports of behavioral and emotional problems among 176 moderately at-risk adolescents. Lack of agreement was measured in terms of concordance of adolescent and parent or close friend report on equivalent measures of behavioral and emotional adjustment. Insecure-dismissing attachment was linked to less agreement in absolute terms between self- and mother reports of externalizing symptoms, and between adolescent and close friend reports of behavioral conduct. Insecure-preoccupied attachment was associated with higher levels of adolescent reporting of internalizing and externalizing symptoms relative to parent reports of adolescent symptomatology. The findings suggest that attachment organization may be one factor that accounts for individual differences in the degree of discordance between self- and other reports of symptoms in adolescence.

Relational Stressors and Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence: Rejection Sensitivity as a Vulnerability.

The role of rejection sensitivity as a critical diathesis moderating the link between adolescent relational stressors and depressive symptoms was examined using multi-method, multi-reporter data from a diverse community sample of 173 adolescents, followed from age 16 to 18. Relational stressors examined included emotional abuse, maternal behavior undermining adolescents’ autonomy and relatedness, and lack of support from close peers. As hypothesized, multiple relational stressors were found to predict the future development of depressive symptoms, but as hypothesized predictions existed primarily for adolescents who were highly rejection sensitive. Results are discussed in terms of a diathesis-stress model of depression and suggest that though relational stressors have previously shown consistent modest links to depressive symptoms, understanding pre-existing intrapsychic vulnerabilities of the adolescent may be critical to identifying the processes by which such stressors lead to depressive symptoms.