The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal associations between attachment at early school age and the development of externalizing symptoms in adolescence. The mediating roles of maternal helplessness and role reversal were also examined. Attachment classifications of 136 children (63 boys and 73 girls) and quality of mother-child interactions (role reversal) were observed at ages 5-6 using the separation-reunion procedure (Main & Cassidy, 1988). At age 13, externalizing problems reported by both the adolescent and the mother (Youth Self-Report; Achenbach, 1991), and caregiving helplessness reported by the mother (Caregiving Helplessness Questionnaire; George, Coulson, & Magana, 1997) were evaluated. Results indicated that children with disorganized attachment to their caregivers evidenced the most maladaptive patterns compared with children with secure attachment, displaying high externalizing symptoms and having mothers reporting more helplessness. Significant differences found among the disorganization subtypes indicated that the controlling-punitive subgroup had more maladaptive patterns across variables than did the behaviorally disorganized and controlling-caregiving subgroups. These findings support the idea that early attachment, mother-child interaction quality, and caregiving helplessness should be central themes in prevention and intervention programs with mother-child dyads.
BackgroundDiscrepancies among studies suggest that the relation between social adversity and sympathy for violent radicalization (SVR) is multifaceted and may differ according to social context. This paper examines the role of depression, religiosity and social support in the relation between social adversity (i.e., discrimination and exposure to violence) and SVR among college students in Quebec, Canada.MethodsA total of 1894 students responded to an online questionnaire posted on the internet of eight colleges. Multilevel analyses were first conducted to account for the clustered nature of the data, followed by mediation and moderation analyses.ResultsFirst generation migrants reported less SVR than second generation youth and non-immigrants. The mediating and/or moderating role of depression, religiosity and social support was examined through causal inference models. Depression mediated the relation between social adversity and SVR, with depression scores accounting for 47% and 25% of the total effect between discrimination and exposure to violence and SVR scores, respectively. Religiosity and social support moderated the association between social adversity and SVR.ConclusionsThese results suggest that prevention programs should consider violent radicalization as a systemic issue which involves both minorities and the majority, although the specific balance between risk and protective factors may be influenced by local dynamics. They also question intervention measures targeting specifically migrants or ethno-cultural communities because of the risk of increasing profiling and stigmatization. Prevention programs should prioritize decreasing discrimination in colleges, as well as the provision of psychosocial support to depressed youth who experience social adversity.
Background-Disorganized attachment is an important early risk factor for socio-emotional problems throughout childhood and into adulthood. Prevailing models of the etiology of disorganized attachment emphasize the role of highly dysfunctional parenting, to the exclusion of complex models examining the interplay of child and parental factors. Decades of research have established that extreme child birth weight may have long-term effects on developmental processes. These effects are typically negative, but this is not always the case. Recent studies have also identified the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) as a moderator of childrearing effects on the development of disorganized attachment. However, there are inconsistent findings concerning which variant of the polymorphism (7-repeat long-form allele or non 7-repeat short form) is most
This study examined the longitudinal association between preschool attachment patterns, the development of anxiety and depression at preadolescence and the mediational role of self-esteem. Child-mother attachment classifications of 68 children (33 girls) were assessed between 3-4 years of age (M = 3.7 years, SD = 4.4 months) using the Separation-Reunion Procedure. At age 11-12 (M = 11.7 years, SD = 4.3 months), anxiety and depressive symptoms (Dominic Interactive Questionnaire), and self-esteem (Self-Perception Profile for Children) were also evaluated. Preadolescents who had shown disorganized attachment at preschool age scored higher on both anxiety and depression and lower on self-esteem than those who had shown secure and insecure-organized attachment strategies. Self-esteem was a partial mediator of the association between preschool disorganization and symptoms of preadolescent depression, but the model was not supported for anxiety. These findings support the idea that early attachment and self-esteem should be central themes in prevention programs with young children.
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