& Parental Marital Quality Joseph P. Allen Joseph S. Tan Leah - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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& Parental Marital Quality Joseph P. Allen Joseph S. Tan Leah - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sep 19, 2023 27 likes •300 views

Predictors of Changing Attachment Security From 14 to 24: Autonomy Struggles, Supportive Behaviors & Parental Marital Quality Joseph P. Allen Joseph S. Tan Leah A. Grande University of Virginia Collaborators: Farah Williams, Ph.D.

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SLIDE 1

Predictors of Changing Attachment Security From 14 to 24: Autonomy Struggles, Supportive Behaviors & Parental Marital Quality

Joseph P. Allen Joseph S. Tan Leah A. Grande

University of Virginia We gratefully acknowledge grant support from NIMH & NICHD (2R01HD058305 & R01-MH58066).

Copies of related papers are available at:

WWW.TEENRESEARCH.ORG

Collaborators: Maryfrances Porter, Ph.D. Kathleen McElhaney, Ph.D. Emily Loeb Jessica Kansky Lauren Elreda, Ph.D. Farah Williams, Ph.D. Chris Hafen, Ph.D. Megan Schad Lauren Cannavo Rachel Narr Christy McFarland, Ph.D. Emily Marston, Ph.D. Erin Miga, Ph.D. Amanda Hare, Ph.D. Elie Hessel

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SLIDE 2

Predicting Adult Attachment: Why We Care

Powerful Links to:

  • Security of Infant Offspring (Caregiving)
  • Psychological Health
  • Marital Relationship Quality
  • Career Satisfaction
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SLIDE 3

What Predicts Change In Attachment Security from Adolescence to Adulthood?

n Developmental Perspective

  • Relative Decrease in Role of Parental Support
  • Developing Adolescent Autonomy & Peer Focus

n Contextual Factors

  • Income & Gender
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SLIDE 4

Preliminary Question

Does Attachment Security Actually Change Significantly from Adolescence into Adulthood?

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SLIDE 5

Three Types of Links to Security

  • 1. Processes Going Offline

Links to security in adolescence but not to future change in security.

  • 2. Processes Coming Online

No links to security in adolescence,but predict change in security from adolescence to adulthood.

  • 3. Ongoing Transactional Processes

Ongoing links to past and future security.

What WAS Important: What’s BECOMING Important: What’s STAYING Important:

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SLIDE 6

Sample

n Adult Attachment Interviews with 175 adolescents

interviewed at age 14; Follow-up AAI with 149 at age 24

n Intensive Interviews and Observations with Teens, Parents,

and Close Friends of Teens

n Equal numbers of Males and Females n Socio-economically Diverse (Median Family Income= $40-

$60K)

n 31% African American; 69% European American

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SLIDE 7

Attachment Security Ages 14 and 24

Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996)

n 1-hour semi-structured interview n Attachment security:

  • Reflects coherence in discourse about episodic and semantic

memories of attachment experiences.

  • Autonomy/balance in evaluating attachment relationships
  • While clearly valuing attachment relationships

n Reliably coded using Kobak et al., (1993) Q-sort technique

  • Interrater reliability = .74 - .84 (Thanks to Kristyn Zajac &

Stephanie Madsen!)

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SLIDE 8

Attachment Security .44***

Stability of Attachment Security from 14 to 24

Age 14 Age 24

Attachment Security

BUT…Stability varies significantly across Gender

Attachment Security .56*** Attachment Security Attachment Security .28* Attachment Security

For Females: For Males:

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SLIDE 9

Attachment Security .44***

Demographic Predictors of Attachment Security

Age 14 Age 24

Attachment Security Family Income Family Income is Going Offline Developmentally as a Factor Predicting Change in Security .29*** .01

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SLIDE 10

Attachment Security .44***

Demographic Predictors of Attachment Security

Age 14 Age 24

Attachment Security Female Gender Gender is Coming Online Developmentally as a Factor Predicting Change in Security .12 .19** .42***

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SLIDE 11

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Supportive Behavior)

Supportive Behavior Task & Coding System (Allen et al., 2001)

  • 8-minute interaction task between parent and teen
  • Teen discusses a problem or question about which they could use help from

parent

  • Coded for degree of maternal engagement with the teen in the task
  • Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (reliability) =.81
  • Collected at Age 13
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SLIDE 12

Attachment Security (24) .44***

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Supportive Behavior)

Attachment Security (14) Maternal Supportive Behavior (13) Maternal Supportive Behavior is Going Offline Developmentally as a Factor Predicting Change in Security .23** .14

Adolescence Adulthood

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SLIDE 13

Peer Supportive Behavior as a Predictor of Attachment Security

Supportive Behavior Task & Coding System (Allen et al., 2001)

  • 8-minute interaction task between teen and closest friend
  • Teen discusses a problem or question about which they could use help from

friend

  • Coded for degree of friend’s engagement with the teen in the task
  • Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (reliability) =.79 - .82
  • Collected at Age 14 and 15
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SLIDE 14

Attachment Security (24) .34***

Peer Supportive Behavior as a Predictor of Attachment Security

Attachment Security (14) Peer Supportive Behavior (15) Peer Supportive Behavior is Both Predicted by Prior Security and Predicts Change in Security – A Transactionally-Linked Factor .19* .25***

Adolescence Adulthood

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SLIDE 15

Peer Supportive Behavior as a Predictor of Attachment Security

Attachment Security (14) Peer Supportive Behavior (15) A Transactional Process : Attachment Security Also Predicts Relative Change in Peer Supportive Behavior over Time .18*

Adolescence Adulthood

Peer Supportive Behavior (14) .10 .27*** Attachment Security (24) .34*** .25***

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SLIDE 16

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Marital Conflict)

Aggressive Argument Tactics from Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979; 1988)

  • 5-items (e.g., insults, threats, etc.)
  • Mothers and Fathers both report about themselves and

about one another

  • Scores are summed together
  • Cronbach’s α =.85
  • Collected at adolescent age 13
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SLIDE 17

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Marital Conflict)

Aggressive Argument Tactics from Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979; 1988)

  • Reduces teens’ confidence that they can form

positive relationships outside the family.

  • Reduces their ability to do so.
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SLIDE 18

Attachment Security (24) .44***

Adolescence Adulthood

Attachment Security (14) Marital Conflict (13) Parental Marital Conflict is Coming Online Developmentally as a Factor Predicting Decreases in Security

  • .14
  • .24**

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Marital Conflict)

.40***

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SLIDE 19

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Alcohol Abuse) CA GE (Bush et al., 1987)

  • 5-item, widely used screening test for risk of alcohol

abuse (e.g., “Ever been annoyed with others for criticizing your drinking”)

  • Administered to both mothers and fathers; averaged

for two-parent families.

  • Collected at Adolescent ages 13 and 16
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SLIDE 20

Attachment Security (24) .44***

Adolescence Adulthood

Attachment Security (14) Parental Alcohol Abuse (13, 16) Parental Alcohol Abuse is Coming Online Developmentally as a Factor Predicting Decreases in Security ..01

  • .14*

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Alcohol Abuse)

.42***

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SLIDE 21

Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Parental Psychological Control)

Child Report of Parenting Behavior (Schludermann & Schludermann, 1988)

  • 10-item adolescent-report scale about parents
  • Autonomy-undermining Behaviors (e.g., guilt induction,

threats, etc.)

  • Reports obtained regarding both mothers and fathers
  • Collected at both ages 15 and 16 and averaged
  • Cronbach’s α’s across ages and targets =.78 - .85
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SLIDE 22

Attachment Security (24) .44*** Attachment Security (14) Parental Psychological Control (15-16) Parental Psychological Control is Both Predicted by Prior Security and Predicts Change in Security – A Transactionally-Linked Factor

  • .30***
  • .26***

Adolescence Adulthood Parental Predictors of Attachment Security (Parental Psychological Control)

.33***

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SLIDE 23

Attachment Security (Age 14) Attachment Security (Age 24) Maternal Supportive Behavior (Age 13) Hx of Parental

  • Alc. Abuse

(Age 13, 16) Parental Marital Discord (Age 13) Parent Psychological Control (Age 15-16)

Adolescent Family and Peer Experiences Predicting Attachment Security Over Time

Factors Predicting Baseline Security But Not Future Change: Factors Not linked to Baseline Security But Predictive of Future Change: Factors Linked to BOTH Baseline Security AND Future Change: Peer Supportive Behavior (Age 15)

.23**

  • .15*
  • .17*

.44** .31***

  • .30***
  • .21**

.20** Female Gender .16*

Total R2 (explained variance in) Adult Attachment Security .391***

Total Multiple R = .62***

R2

change (from social predictors) = .151***

Multiple R for social predictors = .39***

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SLIDE 24

Limitations

n Longitudinal Predictions ≠ Causal Pathways n No data on unresolved/CC status n Modest power to detect small effects

Copies of related papers are available at:

www.TeenResearch.org

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SLIDE 25

Conclusions

n The attachment system remains flexible and open to environmental

influences…

  • … not just through childhood but into adulthood.

Copies of related papers are available at:

www.TeenResearch.org

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SLIDE 26

Conclusions

n Parents do still matter n But less as support providers and more as a solid launching pad.

Copies of related papers are available at:

www.TeenResearch.org

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SLIDE 27

Conclusions

n Parents do matter n But less as support providers and more as a solid launching pad. n A crucial role, but NOT one that’s easy for parents!

Copies of related papers are available at:

www.TeenResearch.org