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Published on: October 13, 2017
The relation of attachment security to adolescents' paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing
Joseph P Allen1, Maryfrances Porter, Christy McFarland
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22904-4400, USA. allen@virginia.edu
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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