ERIC Number: EJ748203
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Dec
Pages: 14
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0047-2891
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Attachment to Parents, Best Friend, and Romantic Partner: Predicting Different Pathways to Depression in Adolescence
Margolese, Stephanie K.; Markiewicz, Dorothy; Doyle, Anna Beth
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, v34 n6 p637-650 Dec 2005
Research indicates that insecurely-attached adolescents are at risk for depression, but little is known about factors that may influence or explain this vulnerability. The present study focuses on close relationships during adolescence and their association with depression. Specifically, the objectives were to investigate (1) the role of working models of specific attachment figures (i.e., mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner) in the prediction of depression; and (2) the existence of target-specific pathways to depression following relational stress. It was expected that the paths to depression would differ depending on the attachment figure under consideration. A total of 134 adolescents (n = 88 girls; M age = 16.95 years; SD = 0.74) completed attachment questionnaires, a depression inventory, and a computer task consisting of hypothetical interpersonal vignettes and questions. Insecure attachment relationships with romantic partner, and for girls only, with mother, were uniquely predictive of depression. Insecurely-attached adolescents' tendency to make negative attributions in response to stresses fully mediated the attachment-depression association. These adolescents were found to ruminate when confronted with stresses involving romantic partner, which was also associated with depression. Results underscore the link between attachment, negative attributions, and depression.
Descriptors: Attachment Behavior, Parent Child Relationship, Peer Relationship, Friendship, Depression (Psychology), Adolescents, Anxiety, Questionnaires, Mothers, Interpersonal Relationship, At Risk Persons, Predictor Variables, Intimacy, Attribution Theory, Gender Differences, Stress Variables
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A