Attachment and internalizing problems in adolescence The mediating

Attachment and internalizing problems in adolescence: The mediating role of personality Ines Rezo*, Gordana Keresteš** -. 36*** -. 29*** a. 11 1 = *** c'=. 05*** a= 3 -. 0 3* * a 5= b 4 = * 1* . 02 *. 15 ** b 5 = * 1* ** Figure 2. Attachment to mother as a predictor of adolescents’ anxiety, mediated by adolescents’ personality traits. 2 * * * 7 Attachme Depression nt to father c'=. 03*** Anxiety * * 7 Openness b . 0 = 3 * b 5 = *** . 13 Agreeableness . 01 -. 0 1* =. 1 a 4 a 5= * *** . 13 Agreeableness b 3 a= 3. 03 ** * 1* =. 1 a 4 Openness 02. = -. 0 =. 0 a 2 2= 7** 7 0. = a. 14 1 = *** 4 *** b * -. 0 Extraversion 9* * 1* 2= =. 2 b 1 * =. 3 b 1 * b b 4 = *. 15 Agreeableness Neuroticism Extraversion a. 14 1 = *** b 3 * Openness Neuroticism a= 3. 03 ** 07. = Conscientiousne ss Figure 1. Attachment to mother as a predictor of adolescents’ depression, mediated by adolescents’ personality traits. c'=. 03*** Anxiety -. 0 7** b 3 * 0* 2 Attachme nt to mother Conscientiousne ss Attachme nt to father -. 0 . = a 2 02. = Agreeableness 2= * * * 08 Depression Openness b Extraversion =. 1 a 4 a= 3 -. 0 3* c'=. 05*** =. 3 b 1 * * 2* Attachme nt to mother a 5= • NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO FFI; Costa & Mc. Crae, 1989, 1992) measured the personality traits in adolescence; higher scores indicate higher levels of a trait • Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) measured internalizing problems. In this study only scores for the Depression and Anxiety =. 3 b 1 . 0 = a 2 * Armsden and Greenberg, 1987) measured quality of attachment to parents; higher scores indicate higher quality of attachment -. 0 4 =. 1 a 4 Measures • Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; 2= * * * 8 a 5= students (M=15. 16; SD=0. 481; 50. 6% males) b Extraversion * The aim of this study was to examine: 1. Does the quality of adolescents’ attachment to parents relate differently to different internalizing problems, that is, anxiety versus depression? 2. Do attachment to mother and attachment to father relate differently to adolescents’ internalizing problems? 3. Does adolescent personality Method mediate the links between Participants attachment to parents and • 968 first grade high school internalizing problems? -. 25*** * • -. 35*** Neuroticism b 4 =. 07 b 5 = ***. 02 • b 4 =. 08 b 5 = ***. 03 • Attachment to mothers -. 10 0. 008 Criterion anxiety: F (1, 967) = 62. 77***, R 2 =. 06 Attachment to mothers -. 07 0. 009 Criterion depression: F (1, 967) = 147. 15***, R 2 =. 131 Attachment to fathers -. 09 0. 007 Criterion anxiety: F (1, 967) = 88. 74***, R 2 =. 083 Attachment to fathers -. 07 0. 008 a. 11 1 = *** • Introduction Insecure attachment to parents predicts development of depression and anxiety (e. g. Lee & Hankin, 2009) Studies assessing relationship between mother–child and father–child attachment and internalizing symptoms yielded mixed results (Brumariu & Kerns, 2010) Personality development is assumed to be influenced by internal working models of attachment, based on early experiences in the infantcaregiver interactions (e. g. Hagekull & Bohlin, 2003) There is no evidence on interrelationships between attachment to parents, personality traits and internalizing problems in adolescence *University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Social Work Study Centre, Zagreb, Croatia **University of Zagreb, Faculty B of Humanities SE and Social Sciences, Models β Department of Psychology, Zagreb, Croatia Criterion depression: F (1, 967) = 135. 50***, R 2 =. 122 Conscientiousne ss Figure 3. Attachment to father as a predictor of adolescents’ depression, mediated by adolescents’ personality traits. Figure 4. Attachment to father as a predictor of adolescents’ anxiety, mediated by adolescents’ personality traits. pos 101. 24 Conclusions • The results are in accordance with previous studies on the relationship between attachment and internalizing problems • Adolescents’ depression was better explained by attachment to parents than adolescents’ anxiety • Attachment to fathers showed somewhat better predictive validity than attachment to mothers, both for anxiety and depression • Personality traits mediated the relationship between attachment to mothers and fathers and depression and anxiety • Neuroticism and agreeableness were mediators for both the quality of attachment to mothers’ and attachment to fathers’ relationship with adolescents’ depression • Neuroticism, openness to experience and agreeableness mediated the association between the quality of attachment to mothers and adolescents’ anxiety, as well as the association between the quality of attachment to fathers and adolescents’ References anxiety Armsden, G. C. , & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: • Neuroticism was the Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in in adolescence. strongest mediator all Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427– analyses using pairwise 454. Brumariu, L. E. , & Kerns, K. A. (2010). Parent– contrast child attachment and internalizing symptoms in childhood and adolescence: A review of empirical findings and future directions. Development and psychopathology, 22, 177203. Costa, P. T. , & Mc. Crae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Hagekull, B. , & Bohlin, G. (2003). Early temperament and attachment as predictors of the Five Factor Model of personality. Attachment & human development, 5, 2 -18. Lee, A. , & Hankin, B. L. (2009). Insecure attachment, dysfunctional attitudes, and low self-esteem predicting prospective symptoms of depression and anxiety during adolescence. Journal of clinical child & Adolescent Psychology, 38, 219 -231. Lovibond, P. F. , & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour research and The study is a part of the project therapy, 335 -343. FEHAP, fully financed by the Croatian Science Foundation. The aim of the project is to advance the understanding of the effects of family economic hardship on family relations, parenting, and adolescents’ psychosocial and educational problems at the time of a nationwide economic crisis.