Intimacy in adolescent friendship: The roles of attachment, coherence, and self-disclosure

TLDR

The study examined how attachment, coherence, and self‑disclosure predict intimacy in adolescent friendships and whether coherence and disclosure mediate the attachment‑intimacy link. The authors assessed gender and grade‑level effects on intimacy among 196 seventh‑to‑ninth‑grade students. Attachment, coherence, and self‑disclosure strongly predicted intimacy; structural equation modeling revealed that only coherence and self‑disclosure had direct effects, while avoidant and anxious attachment influenced intimacy indirectly through coherence and disclosure, with self‑disclosure having a stronger impact when coherence was low. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Abstract

This study examined attachment, coherence, and self-disclosure as predictors of intimacy in adolescent friendships as well as the extent to which coherence and disclosure mediate the relationship between attachment and intimacy. Gender and grade-level effects on intimacy development were also examined for one hundred ninety-six seventh, eighth and ninth grade students (116 boys and 80 girls). Attachment, coherence, and disclosure strongly predicted intimacy. Self-disclosure and coherence also interacted to influence intimacy where a tendency toward self-disclosure contributes to intimacy to a greater extent at low (when compared to high) levels of coherence. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that only coherence and self-disclosure had a direct effect on intimacy. Avoidant and anxious attachment had an indirect affect on intimacy, and were mediated by coherence and disclosure. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.