The Significance of Early Insecurity and Disorganization for Psychopathology

• In Event: 3-234 - Attachment and Psychopathology across the Life Span: Key Findings, Issues, and Future Directions

Integrative Statement

A central tenet of attachment theory is that the quality of children’s early experiences with parents is predictive of subsequent risk for psychopathology, including externalizing and internalizing symptoms (Bowlby, 1973; see DeKlyen & Greenberg, 2008). Questions concerning the significance of early insecurity and disorganization for children’s externalizing and internalizing symptomatology have garnered much attention in almost five decades of attachment research. However, findings have not always converged. Thus, questions remain regarding (1) the extent to which early attachment variation is associated with children’s externalizing and internalizing symptomatology, (2) whether such associations are enduring, and (3) whether specific types of attachment relationships are differentially associated with externalizing versus internalizing symptoms. Thus, a series of meta-analyses were conducted to empirically evaluate the extant literature in light of these outstanding questions (Fearon et al., 2010; Groh et al., 2012).
Studies were included in the meta-analyses if they examined the link between early attachment variation (as assessed via observation [e.g., Strange Situation]) and (1) externalizing symptomatology (i.e., aggression, oppositional problems, conduct problems, hostility) and/or (2) internalizing symptomatology (i.e., depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, somatic complaints). The meta-analyses were performed using comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA; Borenstein et al., 2005).

As seen in Figure 1, consistent with expectations that early insecurity poses risk for externalizing symptomatology, in a total of 69 independent samples comprising nearly 6,000 children, early insecurity was modestly associated with externalizing problems (d = 0.31). In a total of 42 independent samples comprising nearly 4,000 children, although early insecurity was significantly associated with internalizing problems, the magnitude of this association was weak (d = 0.15) and significantly weaker than the association between early insecurity and externalizing problems. Importantly, the age at which externalizing and internalizing symptoms were assessed did not significantly moderate the magnitude of these associations, suggesting that early insecurity has long-term significance for children’s psychopathology into early adolescence.

Regarding insecurity subtypes, a somewhat unanticipated pattern emerged: avoidance was significantly associated with externalizing (d = 0.12) and internalizing problems (d = 0.17), whereas resistance was not significantly associated with either symptom domain (externalizing: d = 0.11; internalizing: d = 0.03), providing little evidence that avoidance and resistance serve as distinctive diatheses for externalizing versus internalizing problems, respectively. Moreover, early disorganization placed children at greatest risk for externalizing problems (d = 0.34), but was not significantly associated with internalizing problems (d = 0.08), suggesting that instead of having broad implications for psychopathology, the significance of disorganization was restricted to the externalizing domain (see Figure 1).

Findings provide evidence consistent with attachment theory that early insecurity poses risk for psychopathology that endures into early adolescence. Yet, some unanticipated findings emerged, including the surprisingly weak association between early insecurity and internalizing symptoms and only partial support for the differential significance of insecurity subtypes for externalizing versus internalizing symptoms. Discussion will explore potential reasons for unanticipated findings, including attachment assessment (e.g., latent structure of attachment), psychopathology assessment (e.g., difficulty in measuring children’s internalizing symptoms), and developmental change in the manifestation of externalizing and internalizing problems and their comorbidity.

Author

• Ashley Groh, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author