Child Development · 1993 · 638 citations · 28 references
Attachment StrategiesSocial PsychologyEducationAdolescenceSocial SciencesPsychologyDevelopmental PsychologyEmotional SkillsEmotion RegulationSocial-emotional DevelopmentBehavioral SciencesAdolescent PsychologyMother-teen Problem SolvingAdolescent DevelopmentAttachment TheoryChild DevelopmentAdult Attachment InterviewProblem SolvingControl Theory AnalysisEmotional DevelopmentEmotion
The study applies control theory to analyze adolescents’ attachment strategies in the Adult Attachment Interview and investigates their association with emotion regulation during mother‑teen problem solving. The authors employed Q‑sort prototypes of secure/anxious and deactivating/hyperactivating strategies to classify AAI responses and used four mother‑teen problem‑solving dimensions—dysfunctional anger, support/validation, avoidance, and maternal dominance—to predict teens’ attachment strategies. Secure attachment strategies were linked to less dysfunctional anger, reduced avoidance, and a balanced assertiveness with mothers, whereas deactivating strategies were associated with higher maternal dominance and dysfunctional anger, highlighting their impact on teens’ autonomy and mother‑teen relationship dynamics.
We present a control theory analysis of adolescents' attachment strategies in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In Study 1, Q-sort prototypes for secure/anxious and deactivating/hyperactivating strategies were used to differentiate between Main and Goldwyn's AAI classifications. In Study 2, we examined how AAI strategies were associated with emotion regulation during mother-teen problem solving. 4 aspects of mother-teen problem solving (dysfunctional anger, support/validation, avoidance of problem solving, and maternal dominance) were used to predict teens' AAI strategies. Teens with secure strategies engaged in problem-solving discussions characterized by less dysfunctional anger and less avoidance of problem solving. In addition, attachment security showed a curvilinear relation with maternal dominance, indicating that secure teens maintained balanced assertiveness with their mothers. Teens with deactivating strategies engaged in problem-solving interactions characterized by higher levels of maternal dominance and dysfunctional anger. The contribution of attachment strategies to teens' autonomy and to transformations in mother-teen relationships is discussed.
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Attachment as an Organizational Construct
L. Alan Sroufe, Everett Waters · Child Development · 1977 · 1.6K citations
Social Psychology, Infant-adult Ties, Individual Differences +19