Fragile Connectedness in Caregiver-Adolescent Relationships Confers Risk for Diminished Well-Being

Adolescent fragile connectedness with caregivers is a process in which, rather than experiencing a consistent sense of connection with caregivers, adolescents' feelings of closeness and connection are highly reliant on the day-to-day experiences with caregivers. In the current study, we hypothesized that fragile connectedness would be a risk factor for internalizing psychopathology outcomes (depression, anxiety) and positive well-being (flourishing, psychological well-being), either as a main effect or by moderating the relation between general caregiver-adolescent connectedness and long-term outcomes. This study presents a secondary analysis of data from a sample of 150 9th and 10th grade adolescents (61.3% girls) in 9th and 10th grade (M_age = 14.61) living in two-caregiver families in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. Adolescents and caregivers completed a baseline assessment, 21-day daily diary burst, and 1-year follow-up assessment. Adolescents reported on daily connectedness with caregivers, depression, anxiety, psychological well-being, and flourishing. Caregivers reported on daily positive parenting. Fragile connectedness was measured as individual differences in the within-person relations between daily variation in positive parenting and adolescents' connectedness with caregivers. Outcomes were regressed on fragile connectedness, average connectedness, baseline measures of outcomes, adolescent gender, family income, living with both biological caregivers and the interaction between fragile and average connectedness. Fragile connectedness was directly associated with decreases in psychological well-being and flourishing, but not with depression or anxiety. Average connectedness with caregivers was associated with decreases in adolescent depression over time. Implications for future research are in the emphasis on the importance of dynamic characteristics of the family (i.e., fragile connectedness) for adolescent well-being.