Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T13:20:03.862Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Attachment patterns during Year 12: Psychological symptoms, rejection sensitivity, loneliness, social competence, and support as correlates of stability and change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Jillian Petherick
Affiliation:
Griffith University
Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck*
Affiliation:
Griffith University
*
School of Psychology (GPY), Griffith University – Gold Coast Campus, PMB 50 GCMC, QLD 9726, Email: m.zimmer-gembeck@griffith.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Year 12 students are in a transitional year, academically and interpersonally. This year involves many changes and the need for students to make future plans, which can be a challenge for many adolescents. During times of transition, such as Year 12, expectations and beliefs about relationships and the relational self (i.e., attachment patterns) may undergo changes. Identifying attachment patterns among Australian Year 12 students was the first aim of this 6-month longitudinal study (N = 130, M age = 16.4). A second aim of this study was to determine correlates of attachment change and stability. These correlates included psychological symptoms, loneliness, rejection sensitivity, social competence, and social support. Using an adolescent version of Bartholomew and Horowitz’s (1991) Relationship Questionnaire, self-reported attachment style showed some change, with 36% of adolescents changing attachment style category during the study. Adolescents were classified into groups based on their attachment styles at the two assessments. Groups included adolescents who were stably insecure, stably insecure, changed to insecure and changed to insecure. When groups were compared, most hypothesised differences were found. First, stably insecure individuals had the most positive psychological functioning, and they had the most stable and positive perceptions of self and others when compared to other groups. Second, stably insecure adolescents were less well-adjusted than others. Third, the changed to insecure group showed improvements in functioning over time. However, it was not clear that adjustment had declined in the changed to insecure group.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J.P., & Land, D. (1999). Attachment in adolescence. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 319335). New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Anders, S.L., & Tucker, J.S. (2000). Adult attachment style, interpersonal commu-nication competence, and social support. Personal Relationships, 7, 379389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayduk, O., Mendoza-Denton, R., Mischel, W., Downey, G., Peake, P.K., & Rodriguez, M. (2000). Regulating the interpersonal self: Strategic self-regulation for coping withrejection sensitivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 776792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldwin, M.W., & Fehr, B. (1995). On the stability of attachment style ratings. Personal Relationships, 2, 247264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartholomew, K. (1994). Assessment of individual differences in adult attachment. Psychological Inquiry, 5, 2367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L.M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226244.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectionalbonds. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 201210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, K.A., & Morris, K.A. (1997). Attachment styles, self-esteem, and patterns of seeking feedback from romantic partners. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 2332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D.V., & Sparrow, S.A. (1981). Developing criteria for establishing inter-rater reliability of specific items: Applications to assessment of adaptive behaviour. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 86, 127137.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Allard, L.M. (2001). Cognitive representations of attachment: The content and function of working models. In Fletcher, G.J.O. & Clark, M.S. (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp.6085). Maiden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Feeney, B.C. (2004). Working models of attachment shape perceptions of socialsupport: Evidence from experimental and observational studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 363383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Read, S.J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship qualityin dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Read, S.J. (1994). Cognitive representations of attachment: The structure andfunction of working models. Advances in Personal Relationships, 5, 5390.Google Scholar
Collins, W.A., & Sroufe, A. (1999). Capacity for intimate relationships: A developmental construction. In Furman, W.Brown, B.B. & Feiring, C. (Eds.), Development of romantic relationships in adolescence (pp. 125147). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cozzarelli, C., Karafa, J.A., Collins, N.L., & Tagler, M.J. (2003). Stability andchange in adult attachment styles: Associations with personal vulnerabilities, life events, and global construals of self and others. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22, 315346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davila, J., Burge, D., & Hammen, C. (1997). Why does attachment style change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 826838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, M.H., Morris, M.M., & Kraus, L. (1998). Relationship-specific and global perceptions of social support: Associations with well-being and attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 468481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derogatis, L.R., & Melisaratos, N. (1983). The Brief Symptom Inventory: An introductory report. Psychological Medicine, 13, 595605.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Downey, G., & Feldman, S.I. (1996). Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 13271343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Egeland, B., & Farber, E. (1984). Infant-mother attachment: Factors related to its developmentand changes over time. Child Development, 55, 753771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feeney, J., & Noller, P. (1996). Adult attachment. London: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feldman, S., & Downey, G. (1994). Rejection sensitivity as a mediator of the impact of childhood exposure to family violence on adult attachment behaviour. Development andPsychopathology, 6, 231247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1985). The Attachment Interview for Adults. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M.T. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in childhood. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P.R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory research, and clinical applications (pp. 469496). New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Griffin, D.W., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). The metaphysics of measurement: The case of adult attachment. Advances in Personal Relationships, 5, 1752.Google Scholar
Harwell, M.R. (1988). Choosing between parametric and nonparametric tests. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 3538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harwell, M.R., & Serlin, R.C. (1997). An empirical study of five multivariate tests for the single-factor repeated measures model. Community Statistician-Simulation, 26, 605618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P.R. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. (1974). Short forms of the Texas Social Behaviour Inventory (TSBI),objective measure of self-esteem. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 4, 473475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, L.A., & Hazan, C. (1994). Attachment styles and close relationship: A four-year prospective study. Personal Relationships, 1,123142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobak, R.R., & Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in late adolescence: Working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. Child Development, 59, 135146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larose, S., & Boivin, M. (1997). Structural relations among attachment working models of parents, general and specific support expectations, and personal adjustment in late adolescence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 90, 10151030.Google Scholar
Lewis, M., Feiring, C., & Rosenthal, S. (2000). Attachment over time. Child Development, 71, 707720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lopez, F.G., & Gormley, B. (2002). Stability and change in adult attachment style over the first-year college transition: Relations to self-confidence,coping, and distress patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 355364. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Florian, V. (2001). Attachment style and affect regulation Implications for coping with stress and mental health. In Fletcher, G.J.O. & Clark, M.S. (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp. 537557). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Tolmacz, R. (1990). Attachment styles and fear of personal death: A case study of affect regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 273280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ognibene, T.C., & Collins, N.L. (1998). Adult attachment styles, perceived social support and coping strategies. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 323345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pistole, M.C. (1989). Attachment in adult romantic relationships: Style of conflict resolution and relationship satisfaction. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 505510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Procidano, M.E., & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, D., Peplau, L.A., & Cutrona, C.E. (1980). The Revised UCLA Loneliness scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scharfe, E. (not dated). The Adolescent Relationship Questionnaire. Retrieved January 2004, from Trent University, Psychology Web site: http://www.trentu.ca / psychology / escharfe / RQ.HTM.Google Scholar
Scharfe, E., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). Reliability and stability of adult attachment patterns. Personal Relationships, 1, 2343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searle, B., & Meara, N.M. (1999). Affective dimensions of attachment styles: Exploring self-reported attachment style, gender, and emotional experience among college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46,147158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaver, P.R., & Clark, C.L. (1994). The psychodynamics of adult romantic attachment. In Masling, J.M. & Bornstein, R.F. (Eds.), Empirical perspectives on object relations theory (pp. 105156). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Shaver, P.R., & Mikulincer, M. (2006). What do self-report attachment measures assess? In Rholes, R.F.W.S. & Simpson, J.A. (Eds.), Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 1754). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Siddique, C.M., & D’Arcy, C. (1984). Adolescence, stress, and psychological well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13, 459473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioural sciences. London: McGraw-Hill Kogakusha.Google Scholar
Simpson, J.A., Rholes, W.S.,Campbell, L., & Wilson, C.L. (2003). Changes in attachment orientations across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 317331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, E., Weinfield, N.S., & Hamilton, C.E. (2000). The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: General discussion. Child Development, 71, 703703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed