Secure Base Representations among Inner-City Adolescents

Objectives Previous literature highlights attachment security as a key antecedent of early affective regulation that is frequently associated with positive socioemotional outcomes in early childhood. Less is known of attachment in adolescence, particularly within underserved, stress-exposed families...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child and family studies 2019-03, Vol.28 (3), p.784-795
Main Authors: Richardson, Patricia A., Sala-Hamrick, Kelsey, Simon, Valerie, Barnett, Douglas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
African Americans
Attachment
Behavior problems
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Caregiver burden
Caregivers
Child and School Psychology
Childhood
Emotional regulation
Emotions
Externalizing behaviour
Inner city
Internalization
Internalizing disorders
Mothers
Original Paper
Psychology
Risk assessment
Social Sciences
Sociology
Stress
Teenagers
Traumatic life events
Underserved populations
Urban Youth
Vocabulary
Young Children
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Summary:Objectives Previous literature highlights attachment security as a key antecedent of early affective regulation that is frequently associated with positive socioemotional outcomes in early childhood. Less is known of attachment in adolescence, particularly within underserved, stress-exposed families. The current study investigated relations among adolescents’ secure base knowledge (an indicator of secure attachment), internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and stress and trauma exposure. Methods Participants were 83 inner-city adolescents (ages 13–18 years; 72.3% African American) and one of their primary caregivers (75.9% biological mothers). Secure base knowledge was assessed utilizing the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Results After controlling for adolescents’ exposure to potentially stressful or traumatic events, secure base knowledge uniquely predicted fewer internalizing, but not externalizing, problems. Analyses controlled for youth receptive vocabulary, age, and gender. Conclusions This study provides further evidence that youth attachment security contributes uniquely to fewer youth internalizing problems even within the context of numerous contextual risks. Furthermore, results add to the understanding the utility of the ASA among youth in an urban context.
ISSN:1062-1024
1573-2843
DOI:10.1007/s10826-018-01312-5