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Paediatr Child Health Vol 9 No 8 October 2004 551 Adolescent-parent attachment:

Paediatr Child Health Vol 9 No 8 October 2004 551 Adolescent-parent attachment: Bonds that support healthy development Marlene M Moretti PhD, Maya Peled MA Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia Correspondence: Dr Marlene Moretti, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6. Telephone 604-291-3604, fax 604-291-3427, e-mail moretti@sfu.ca MM Moretti, M Peled. Adolescent-parent attachment: Bonds that support healthy development. Paediatr Child Health 2004;9(8):551-555. Adolescence is characterized by significant neurological, cognitive and sociopsychological development. With the advance of adoles- cence, the amount of time spent with parents typically drops while time spent with peers increases considerably. Nonetheless, parents continue to play a key role in influencing their adolescent’s develop- ment. Adolescent-parent attachment has profound effects on cogni- tive, social and emotional functioning. Secure attachment is associated with less engagement in high risk behaviours, fewer men- tal health problems, and enhanced social skills and coping strategies. The present article provides a brief synopsis of the changes that occur during adolescence and describes what attachment is, why it contin- ues to be important and how it is transformed during adolescence. It summarizes major findings on the impact of attachment on adoles- cent adjustment and discusses strategies for supporting healthy ado- lescent-parent attachment. Key Words: Adjustment; Adolescence; Attachment; Health; Parent- child relationships; Psychopathology L’attachement entre l’adolescent et ses parents : Des liens qui soutiennent un développement sain L’adolescence se caractérise par un développement neurologique, cognitif et sociopsychologique important. D’ordinaire, à mesure que progresse l’adolescence, le temps passé avec les parents diminue tandis que celui passé avec les amis augmente considérablement. Néanmoins, les parents continuent d’exercer une énorme influence sur le développement de leur adolescent. L’attachement entre l’adolescent et ses parents a des effets profonds sur son fonctionnement cognitif, social et affectif. Un attachement solide s’associe à une participation moins marquée à des comportements à haut risque, à moins de troubles de santé mentale, à des aptitudes sociales et à des stratégies d’adaptation plus solides. Le présent article fournit un bref synopsis des changements qui se produisent pendant l’adolescence et décrit ce qu’est l’attachement, la raison pour laquelle cet attachement continue d’être important et sa transformation pendant l’adolescence. Il résume les principales observations sur les répercussions de l’attachement sur l’adaptation de l’adolescent et présente des stratégies pour soutenir un attachement sain entre l’adolescent et ses parents. A dolescence is increasingly recognized as the second major ‘window’ of opportunity and risk in development, next only in significance to early childhood development. It is a period of biological, cognitive and social change of such magnitude and rapidity that it is no surprise to find that it is associated with the onset or exacerbation of a number of health-related problems including depression (1), eating dis- orders (2), substance abuse and dependence (3-5), risky sex- ual behaviour (6), antisocial and delinquent activity (7) and school dropout (8). In recent years, the role of parental influ- ence in adolescent adjustment has been seriously questioned. Some researchers have argued that parents make little or no difference in how their children navigate the adolescent period, pointing instead to data showing that peer influence domi- nates this period (9). Contrary to this position, there is grow- ing evidence that parents do make a difference, and that this difference operates through the nature of their attachment bond with their child (10-12). THE SCOPE OF ADOLESCENT TRANSITION The quintessential characteristic of adolescence is change. Although this has long been recognized by social scientists and mental health professionals (eg, psychiatrists, psychol- ogists and other adolescent health specialists), the true depth of the changes that occur during this period have yet to be fully understood. New research points to significant transformations in neurological structure and function. Dopamine production and functional levels of other neuro- transmitters change throughout adolescence, reaching adult stabilization levels at approximately 16 years of age (13). Significant transformations occur in prefrontal cortex function, supporting increasing capacity for abstract think- ing and problem solving (14) and strategic response inhibi- tion (15). Rapid hormonal changes also characterize this developmental period (16). Contrary to popular opinion, hormonal changes do not directly account for behavioural changes during adolescence. However, changes in neuro- logical structure and neurotransmitter function have been implicated in increased irritability, anhedonia and risk tak- ing behaviour which have been documented to increase during adolescence (14). Changes in neurological development are accompanied by significant cognitive development; in particular, the capacity for abstract thought and complex problem solving. ©2004 Pulsus Group Inc. All rights reserved REVIEW ARTICLE Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/pch/article-abstract/9/8/551/2648607 by guest on 23 January 2019 Metacognitive and representational capacity grows from early to late adolescence (17-19). Adolescents are increas- ingly able to simultaneously represent and compare multi- ple perspectives and attributes, promoting a more differentiated view of the world, including how adolescents see themselves and others around them (20-23). Early in adolescence, however, the ability to differentiate outstrips the capacity to integrate diverse information, leading ado- lescents to view the world in black and white terms, and to feel at odds with seemingly contradictory aspects of them- selves. It is not until late adolescence that conflicting aspects of the self can be integrated into a coherent sense of self (24,25). Elkind (26) suggests that the cognitive shifts that occur in adolescence result in a form of adolescent ‘egocentrism’ in which the adolescent is overwhelmed by the sense that he or she is the focus of everyone’s attention, coupled with the belief that his or her experiences are entirely unique. Alongside these rapid biological changes, adolescents enter a new social-psychological phase of life. It is normal for the amount of time spent with parents to drop precipi- tously while time spent with peers increases. Estimates show a 21% drop (35% to 14%) in waking hours spent with fam- ily between late childhood and middle adolescence (27) and increasing reliance on peers for intimacy and support (28-31). New social roles open up for adolescents, taking them further from their families. Most adolescents enter the workforce at age 15 or 16 years, and many are employed for 15 h/week to 20 h/week (32,33). Dating relationships begin in early adolescence – around 13 years of age for girls and 14 years of age for boys (34) – although it is not until late adolescence that these relationships are characterized by genuine intimacy and deep emotional involvement (35). In summary, adolescence involves significant transfor- mations in almost every domain of functioning. During periods of rapid development, research shows that parental sensitivity and support are critical in ‘scaffolding’ children to the next level of functioning (36-38). However, in the adolescent phase of development, the parent-child rela- tionship is thrown into flux as children strive toward auton- omy and parents struggle to find new ways of supporting their children in the context of a different relationship. It is not surprising that the nature of the adolescent-parent attachment bond is paramount to how both parties negoti- ate this transition. WHAT IS ATTACHMENT? The concept of attachment was proposed by Bowlby (39-41) more than three decades ago to describe the fundamental bond between parent and infant that is essential to survival and development. Attachment is based on ethology, and Bowlby conceptualized attachment as a biologically based repertoire of organized behaviours (eg, infants’ crying, smil- ing, clinging and proximity seeking) that foster infant-par- ent interactions and maximize survival. Under conditions of stress such as illness, unfamiliar environments and being left alone, infants direct certain behaviours toward their caregivers to gain protection and safety. In the absence of stress, proximity-seeking behaviours are reduced and the attachment system enables children to engage in other adaptive behaviours that promote exploration and mastery of the environment (42). The attachment system, there- fore, allows children to relate to their parents both as a ‘secure base’ (43) from which to explore, and as a ‘safe haven’ for obtaining support and protection in times of per- ceived threat. Parents differ in the nature and quality of care that they provide to their children and, over time, children’s attach- ment experiences are consolidated into ‘internal working models’ of relationships (40). Parental attunement and appropriate responsiveness give rise to secure attachment, marked by a view of the self as worthy of care and compe- tent in mastering the environment, and a view of others as reliable and effective. Securely attached children readily seek out their caregivers when distressed, but feel sufficiently safe to explore their environment at times of low stress. In contrast, parental unavailability and harsh rejection is associated with insecure anxious-avoidant attachment. These children view themselves as unlovable and unable to attract care from their parents, and they view others as punitive and disinterested in them. Anxious-avoidant children are reluctant to approach their parents even when distressed, because they fear their over- tures for comfort will be rejected or punished. Parental inconsistency is associated with anxious-ambivalent attachment. These children view themselves as unable to sustain the interest and care of others. However, they view others as able to provide support if their attention can uploads/Litterature/ moretti-2004.pdf