Search

Background: A growing research base demonstrates that adolescents' construction of secure attachment relationships may underlie successful social and personal relationships and healthy behavioral adjustment. Little is known about the early caregiving origins of adolescent attachment security; this study provides some of the first data on this topic., Method: The relative contribution of early and current caregiving quality to attachment security in adolescence was assessed in two longitudinal studies of a clinic-referred and an at-risk community sample using identical measures (n = 209). Quality of early parent-child relationships at age 3-7 years of age and parent-adolescent relationship quality at approximately 12 years were assessed using observational methods; psychosocial risk was derived from extensive interview and questionnaire assessments; adolescent attachment quality was assessed using a standard attachment interview., Results: Analyses indicated moderate stability in observed parent-child interaction quality from early childhood to adolescence. Observational ratings of both early childhood and current caregiving quality were significantly associated with adolescent attachment security; however, early caregiver sensitivity was more strongly associated with adolescent attachment security and predicted later attachment security independently from current caregiving quality. Follow-up analyses indicated that this longitudinal prediction was significantly weaker in the clinic than in the at-risk community sample., Conclusions: Parental sensitive responding in childhood has enduring effects on attachment representation in adolescence, independent of current parenting relationship quality. These findings provide important new evidence supporting early parenting interventions for promoting youth well-being and adjustment., (© 2018 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Background: Youth offending and antisocial behavior (ASB) are associated with low quality mental health and relationships and usually lead to poor adult functioning; they are very costly for society. Family interventions are effective in children but there are few reliably effective and inexpensive interventions for adolescents. Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an evidence-based intervention but seldom tested outside the United States., Methods: One hundred and eleven adolescents (10-17 years of age, M = 15.0, SD = 1.63) and their families were randomized to FFT + Management As Usual (MAU) (n = 65) or to MAU (n = 46). Assessments were made at baseline 6, and 18 months after randomization and included interviews and questionnaires of parenting behaviors, conduct disorders (CDs) and offending. Parent-child interaction was directly observed and police records obtained., Trial Registration: ISRCTN27650478., Results: Eighty-nine (80%) were followed-up. In both groups, there were large reductions over time in all measures of offending and antisocial behavior (e.g. primary outcome p < 0.001), but no significant changes over time in parenting behavior or the parent-child relationship. However, there were no differences between intervention and control groups at 6 or 18 months on self-reported delinquency, police records of offending, symptoms or diagnoses of CDs, parental monitoring or supervision, directly observed child negative behavior, or parental positive or negative behavior. Against predictions, the intervention group showed lower levels of directly observed child positive behavior at 18 months compared to controls., Conclusions: In contrast to most previous trials of FFT, FFT+MAU did not lead to greater reductions in youth ASB and offending compared to MAU alone, and did not lead to improvements in parenting or the parent-child relationship. This may be because the trial was more rigorously conducted than prior studies; equally, the possibility that MAU was effective requires further research., (© 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Background: Attachment theory was conceptualized by Bowlby as relevant across the life span, from 'cradle to grave'. The research literature on attachment in infants and preschool-aged children is extensive, but it is limited in adolescence. In particular, it is unclear whether or not attachment security is distinguishable from other qualities of the parent-adolescent relationship and predicts adjustment independently of alternate measures of it., Methods: Data from three parallel studies of adolescents, representing normal- to high-risk status, were combined, n = 248. Attachment was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview, a recently constructed measure designed for older children and adolescents. Parent-adolescent relationship quality was assessed in detail through questionnaires, interviews and observation of a standard problem-solving interaction. Adolescent adjustment was assessed through parental psychiatric interview, teacher questionnaire and adolescent self-report., Results: Bivariate analyses showed that secure attachment representations were modestly associated with diverse measures of the current parent-adolescent relationship such as monitoring, negative expressed emotion, and directly observed parental warmth and anger. In addition, attachment representations were reliably associated with key indicators of psychological adjustment in adolescence, including parent-rated oppositional-defiant disorder symptoms and teacher-reported emotional and behavioural difficulties. Regression analyses revealed that secure attachment representations explained unique variance in these indicators of adjustment, independent of alternative measures of the parent-adolescent relationship., Conclusion: Adolescents' representational models of attachment are related to but distinct from current parenting quality and provide unique insight into the understanding of behavioural adjustment. The findings support a distinct conceptual role of attachment representations in adolescence. Clinical assessment and treatment models should include attachment patterns in this age group., (© 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)