Assessing Attachment Representations in Adolescents: Discriminant Validation of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System

Gander, Manuela; George, Carol; Pokorný, Dan; Buchheim, Anna

doi:10.1007/s10578-016-0639-2

Cited by 27 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…We assessed attachment representations and the amount of unresolved attachment characteristics using the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). This is a valid and reliable interview procedure for classifying adolescent (Gander, George, Pokorny, & Buchheim, 2016) and adult attachment representations ( George & West, 2012). By using a set of standardized questions, individuals are asked to tell a story in response to one neutral (warm-up) and seven attachment-related picture stimuli depicting scenes of solitude, death, separation, and fear.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unresolved Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Impaired Personality Functioning in Adolescence

Gander

Buchheim

Bock

et al. 2020

Journal of Personality Disorders

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The present study investigates the mediating effect of attachment trauma on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality functioning in 199 adolescents (12-18 years) using a novel approach of an in-depth analysis of attachment-related traumatic contents during an attachment interview (AAP). Our findings demonstrate that adolescents with a high amount of traumatic attachment-related material show a lower resilience when facing traumatic childhood experiences, resulting in a greater severity of personality dysfunction. In particular, the associations between emotional abuse and neglect and the domains of identity, empathy, self-direction, and intimacy were mediated by the severity of attachment trauma. These results advance our understanding of the different nuances of attachment-related traumatic material and how they might shape personality structure in an adolescent age group.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unresolved Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Impaired Personality Functioning in Adolescence

Gander

Buchheim

Bock

et al. 2020

Journal of Personality Disorders

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“…Coders can classify the protocols into four attachment groups: secure (F), insecure‐dismissing (Ds), insecure‐preoccupied (E), and unresolved (U). Psychometric properties were tested in several studies for adolescents and adults (Buchheim et al, ; Gander, George, Pokorny, & Buchheim, ; George & West, ), and the AAP demonstrates a high convergent agreement with the Adult Attachment Interview but requires half of the time to administer and rate the interviews (George & West, ). A recent study on adult patients with chronic depression compared with healthy controls demonstrated a high convergent validity between the AAP and the AAI ( n = 30, κ = 0.885, ASE = 0.112), p < 0.001, simple agreement 94% (Buchheim et al, ).…”

Section: Methods and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, the control sample was made up largely of middle-class subjects with a limited ethnic diversity. Whereas sociodemographic variables like educational levels, gender, or age do not seem to be associated with attachment classifications in adolescents (Gander et al, 2016), our results may not be generalizable to populations with different ethnic backgrounds. Furthermore, most of the parents from the clinical group were divorced, whereas the majority of parents from the control group were married.…”

Section: Attachment and Childhood Traumamentioning

confidence: 99%

Disorder‐specific attachment characteristics and experiences of childhood abuse and neglect in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and a major depressive episode

Gander

Sevecke

Buchheim

2018

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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For the first time, the present study investigates disorder-specific attachment characteristics and childhood trauma in adolescent inpatients with anorexia nervosa (n = 30, girls/boys: 28/2, age: M = 14.84, SD = 1.20), a major depressive episode (n = 30, girls/boys: 27/3, age: M = 15.14, SD = 1.50), and controls (n = 60, girls/boys: 44/16, age: M = 16.10, SD = 1.20). We used the Structured Clinical Interview to diagnose Axis I disorders, the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System to classify attachment representations, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to assess child maltreatment. Our findings demonstrate an overrepresentation of the unresolved attachment status in the patient samples. A one-way analysis of variance succeeded by Bonferroni post hoc tests indicated that adolescents with anorexia nervosa show more isolation and dissolution of boundaries between life and death when confronted with situations of solitude. Although they report moderate to severe levels of traumatic childhood experiences, they tend to minimize those. Adolescents with a major depressive episode report higher levels of emotional abuse and neglect in their childhood, leaving them in a state of failed protection and danger during attachment distress. Integrating these attachment-related characteristics into specific psychotherapeutic interventions might be associated with a better outcome in that age group.

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“…There are two kinds of adolescent assessments that predominate the field including self-report and interview. The most popular kind of assessment and the only one to be discussed however is the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (Gander et al, 2017). The AAI was developed by Main and Goldwyn from 1985to 1996 and…”

Section: Attachment and Adolescentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was designed to "surprise the unconscious" (Warmuth & Cummings, 2015, p. 202) and assess the relationships with parents during childhood from a current state of mind . It was initially developed for adults and later extended to include adolescents (Warmuth & Cummings, 2015), and it is considered the "gold standard" for assessing attachment in adolescence (Gander et al, 2017).…”

Section: Attachment and Adolescentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships over rules: Educating adolescents through an attachment lens.

Infanta¹

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Attachment theory is an integral aspect of relationships and bonds that form between people: parent and child, friends, teacher and student and intimate partners. Most of the literature available on attachment theory is focused on these relationships. It is evident that educators are in a profession where they have the opportunity to develop long-term bonds and relationships with their students. The benefits to the student-teacher relationship are substantive, yet attachment theory is not naturally integrated into the professional development of educators. Focusing on curriculum and meeting academic standards may leave little time and resources to understand the processes and interactions that take place in the classroom. To address this void, the purpose of this project is to develop a workshop to inform and create educator awareness focusing on attachment, including educators developing awareness of their own attachment styles and the attachment styles of their adolescent students. Creating awareness allows for a better understanding of how and why students and teachers behave, interact and react in all situations which in turn allows for more positive interactions. A review of literature on attachment is provided that focuses on the following: attachment theory, attachment and adolescents, attachment in the classroom including students, teachers and strategies and understanding one's own attachment style. In keeping with this focus, trauma and multicultural concerns will be addressed. The one-day workshop includes a powerpoint presentation that covers the specifics around this topic and opportunities for questions, group discussions and activities. The activities will be hands on and experiential and give the participants more than an intellectual understanding of the concepts.

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Assessing Attachment Representations in Adolescents: Discriminant Validation of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System

Cited by 27 publications

References 50 publications

Unresolved Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Impaired Personality Functioning in Adolescence

Unresolved Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Impaired Personality Functioning in Adolescence

Disorder‐specific attachment characteristics and experiences of childhood abuse and neglect in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and a major depressive episode

Relationships over rules: Educating adolescents through an attachment lens.

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