Attachment and Parent-Adolescent Discrepancies in Reports of Family Functioning among Suicidal Adolescents

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies 2020, Vol.29 (1), p.227-236
• Main Authors: Chang, Cindy J., Ohannessian, Christine McCauley, Krauthamer Ewing, E. Stephanie, Kobak, Roger, Diamond, Guy S., Herres, Joanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; African Americans; Attachment; Attachment Behavior; Attachment style; Avoidance behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Caregivers; Child and School Psychology; Children of alcoholics; Clinical research; Clinical trials; Discrepancies; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Family cohesion; Family conflict; Family relations; Mental depression; Mothers; Original Paper; Parent-adolescent relations; Parents; Psychology; Social Sciences; Sociology; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1062-1024; 1573-2843
• DOI: 10.1007/s10826-019-01566-7

Objectives The current study examined parent-adolescent discrepancies in reports of family functioning and their relation to attachment styles, depressive symptomatology, and suicidal ideation in a diverse sample of adolescents (49.7% African American, 15.5% Hispanic/Latino, 28.7% White, 81.9% female). Methods Participants were 129 adolescents (ages 12–18) and one caregiver (79% mothers). Adolescents had met inclusion criteria in a Randomized Clinical Trial for depressed and suicidal adolescents. Measures of family functioning, symptoms, and attachment styles were assessed at baseline prior to treatment. Results On average, adolescents reported less family cohesion compared to caregivers ( t (127) = −3.01, p  = 0.003) but similar levels of family conflict ( p >  0.05 ) . Polynomial regression models demonstrated that avoidant attachment styles with mother figures were associated with adolescent-reported family conflict when parents reported low family conflict ( b  = 0.79, SE  = 0.24, p