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

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 227 - 236
• Main Authors: Chang, Cindy J., Ohannessian, Christine McCauley, Krauthamer Ewing, E. Stephanie, Kobak, Roger, Diamond, Guy S., Herres, Joanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2020; Springer Nature B.V
• 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; Adolescence; Attachment; Family functioning; Suicide; Informant discrepancies
• 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  < 0.01). Conclusions It is possible that avoidant attachment styles are linked to mistuned patterns of communication that in turn, enhance differing views of family conflict. Conversely, an avoidant attachment style may be maintained when adolescents perceive family conflict that is not validated by their caregiver. This study supports and extends previous findings that discrepant views of family functioning indicate problems in the parent-adolescent relationship. Findings are consistent with research demonstrating the clinical relevance of informant discrepancies beyond information obtained from only one respondent’s report.