NCJ Number
246461
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2014 Pages: 641-654
Date Published
April 2014
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the links between adolescents' perceptions of attachment security in their relationships with their mothers and fathers and developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms.
Abstract
This longitudinal study investigated the links between adolescents' perceptions of attachment security in their relationships with their mothers and fathers and developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms in a community sample of 414 adolescents (45 percent males). The participants were followed annually from age 11 (end of elementary school) to 16 (end of high school). Group-based trajectory modeling analyses conditional on risk and protective factors identified four trajectories of depressive symptoms across adolescence: moderate stable (MS; 54.57 percent of the sample), low stable (LS; 27.16 percent), moderate increasing (MI; 11.30 percent), and high declining (HD; 6.97 percent). Membership in the HD versus LS trajectory group was predicted by attachment security to both the mother and father at baseline (age 11), whereas attachment security to the mother increased the odds of belonging to the MS and MI groups. These relationships were statistically significant after controlling for gender, anxiety symptoms, and academic competence. The findings are discussed with respect to their contribution to attachment theory and the research on the complementary contributions of mothers and fathers to the prevention of depressive symptomatology during adolescence. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.