2-075 - Longitudinal Influences of Attachment Across the Lifespan on Socio-emotional Difficulties and Disorders.

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Based on notable longitudinal studies over the past decades, attachment has been identified as a key component in socio-emotional development from early childhood to adulthood (Grossmann et al, 2006; Sroufe et al, 2005). Identifying risk factors at an early age is crucial for the prevention of psychological problems across the lifespan. This symposium will explore attachment, as well as temperament and parental well-being, as an important risk factor in the development of behavioral problems in adolescence and adulthood, in four papers. First, 1) we examine the independent and interactive influence across a 15-year span of attachment and temperament, specifically behavioral inhibition, at school age on the development of intolerance of uncertainty, a transdiagnostic risk factor highly associated with anxiety disorders in young adulthood. Then, 2) the association between childhood attachment at age 5 and development of externalizing symptoms in early adolescence is examined while considering maternal helplessness. Furthermore, 3) a 10-year longitudinal model depicting emotion regulation strategies in young adulthood as a mechanism through which adolescent attachment relationships with parents and peers is associated with adult attachment and symptoms of psychopathology is demonstrated. Finally, 4) in a clinical sample, the role of child attachment, temperament, and maternal stress in explaining child internalizing and externalizing disorders is shown, considering both parental- and mental health professional-reported behavioral problems. Our results emphasize not only the longitudinal influence of attachment on later psychopathology, but also important individual and relational factors from which new preventive interventions can be developed on an individual and familial level.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Ellen Moss, Universite Du Quebec A Montreal

• Magdalena A. Zdebik, Univ of Montreal

Individual Presentations

• Childhood Attachment and Behavioural Inhibition as Risk Factors for Intolerance of Uncertainty in Adulthood. - Presenting Author: Magdalena A. Zdebik, Univ of Montreal; Ellen Moss, Universite Du Quebec A Montreal; Jean-Francois Bureau, University of Ottawa

• Disorganized/Controlling Attachment, Role-reversal and Caregiving Helplessness: Links to Adolescents’ Externalizing Problems. - Presenting Author: Vanessa Lecompte, McGill Univ; Ellen Moss, Universite Du Quebec A Montreal

• The Role of Adolescent Attachment Security Towards Parents and Peers on Future Adaptation: A 10-year Longitudinal Study. - Presenting Author: Katherine Pascuzzo, McGill University; Ellen Moss, Universite Du Quebec A Montreal; Chantal Cyr, Université du Québec à Montreal

• Disorganized-Controlling Attachment and Maternal Stress: Risk Factors of Behavioral Disorders in a Clinical Sample of Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Chantal Cyr, Université du Québec à Montreal; Aliya Mubarak, Universite Du Quebec A Montreal; Daniel Paquette, University of Montreal; Martin St-André, CHU Sainte-Justine; Mutsuko Emond, CHU Ste-Justine; Karine Dubois-Comtois, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières