Poster #133 - Attachment during adolescence and psychological adjustment during adulthood

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

The behavioral attachment system refers to the developmental mechanisms that govern parent-child interactions, particularly in situations involving distress or fear signals from the child (Bowlby, 1969; Costello, 2013). It has been hypothesized that individual differences in attachment at different times during development may be linked to mental health during adulthood (Bowlby, 1988). Specifically, insecure and non-autonomous attachment has been linked to more hostility and psychological distress (Kobak and Sceery, 1988) and more anxiety (Fonagy et al., 1996). However, many of these studies have relied on cross-sectional designs, which limits the ability to understand the order of occurrence of the various phenomena. Moreover, few studies have looked at other variables that are also empirically linked to mental health and adjustment as potential moderators or confounds, the most notable being socioeconomic status. The purpose of this project is to describe the link between different indices of attachment and adult psychological adjustment within a longitudinal study conducted over 10 years, while considering several other correlates of adjustment in adulthood.

The current study is part of a longitudinal follow-up on the links between attachment at the end of adolescence (T1, 1992, n = 167, 16 to 21 years old) and the development of depressive and anxiety symptoms in adulthood (T2, 2006, n = 102, 25 to 32 years and T3, 2019, 35 to 42 years). T1 and T2 data will be presented. At T1, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI, George, Kaplan, & Main, 1998) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA, Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) were administered. At T2, the IPPA was administered again, as well as the depression, hostility, and anxiety scales of the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL; Derogatis, 1994).

Results
At T1, bivariate correlations indicate that none of the IPPA or AAI derived variables are associated with depression or anxiety. However, the IPPA measure of attachment to the mother at T1 is related to SCL hostility symptoms at T2 (r = -.28, p < .05). Attachment to the mother in T2 is cross-sectionally linked to depression (r = -.24, p <.05) and anxiety (r = -.26, p <.05), but not to hostility. Attachment with the father at T2 is also associated with anxiety (r = -.25, p <.05) and marginally with depression (r = -.18, p <.10), but not with hostility.

Hierarchical regression analyses indicate a significant interaction between maternal education and attachment to mother at T2 in predicting T2 anxiety (ß = .89, p <.05). The interaction suggests that with greater levels of education, the association between IPPA assessments of attachment to mother and SCL anxiety symptoms is greater, in the expected, inverse direction.

Discussion
Discussion focuses on three points: 1) the greater associations between attachment and adult adjustment when measures are cross-sectional; 2) the relative lack of associations emanating from the AAI; 3) the need to conduct further research that is longitudinal and that considers other ecological variables that provide the context for emerging adulthood to more appropriately tease out the potential role of attachment in later adjustment.

Authors

• Mariane Valois-Demers, Université Laval
  Presenting Author

• Émilie Langlois, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marie-Christine Auger, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author

• George Tarabulsy, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author

• Annie Bernier, University of Montreal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Simon Larose, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author