"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live" (Goethe). Protective and mediator factors for internalizing disorders in early and mid-adolescence
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Adolescence is often considered as a period of changes and challenges, during which youth are at particular risk for developing psychological disorders (Lee & Bukowski, 2012; Verona, Javdani, & Sprague, 2011). Anxiety and depression are two very common disorders in adolescence (Angold & Costello, 2008; Vierhaus, Lohaus, & Shah, 2010). Several authors have focused on the study of the possible risk factors that might interfere or enlarge the chance to develop such maladaptive behaviors. Some empirical studies have reported good quality of attachment relationships and positive evaluation of self as two of the most crucial protective factors for the psychological well-being in adolescence (Lee & Hankin, 2009; Tambelli, Laghi, Odorisio, & Notari, 2012; Wilkinson, 2004). Other studies, have focused on how different trends of psychological disorders and attachment relationships are detachable within the whole adolescence. Thus the central purpose of this study is to examine the relationships of attachment, in particular to mother, father, and peer, and self-esteem to depressive and anxiety symptoms, in early and mid-adolescence respectively. A community based sample of Italian early (n=1078) and mid-adolescents (n=1138) completed self-report measures of attachment (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, IPPA, Armsden & Greenberg, 1987, 1989; Greenberg, Siegel, & Leitch, 1983) self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, RSES, Rosenberg, 1965) as well as anxiety (Spence Childrenâs Anxiety Scale, SCAS, Spence 1997) and depressive symptoms (Childrenâs Depression Inventory, CDI, Kovacs, 1992). After the evaluation of the psychometric properties (internal consistency and structural validity) of each selected measure, age and gender-related differences are evaluated. Correlations between the total scores of the measure are reported. Through structural equation modeling it is assessed the direct influence of both maternal and paternal attachment on psychological health, self-esteem and peer attachment. Moreover, the influence of peer attachment on psychological health is totally mediated by self-esteem. Anxiety and depressive symptoms are considered and evaluated separately. The multi-group approach is used to evaluate gender differences in the model. To avoid the artifacts of sampling and to strengthen the obtained results, the cross-validation procedure is adopted. Results indicate good psychometric characteristics for each measure. Additionally, the comparison between the two age-groups show early adolescence report higher levels of attachment (to mother, father and peer), and self-esteem, whereas mid-adolescents report higher levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, in general girls score higher on levels of attachment relationships to peer and on anxiety symptoms, while boys report higher levels of self-esteem and paternal attachment. The major finding from the model concerns the crucial role of self-esteem. Maternal, paternal and peer attachment have only a weak effect on anxiety and depressive symptoms respectively, whereas the self-esteem shows a greater effect on both. The only one exception regards the strong direct role of peer attachment on depressive symptoms showed by the mid-adolescents sample. However, the primary effect of the considered attachment relationships is on self-esteem. Symptom and age-related differences are discussed. To conclude, this study suggests that it is the evaluation of the self rather than the quality of attachment relationships that may influence the levels of psychological symptoms reported by early and mid-adolescents. Limits of the study and implications for research are presented
Author: Elisa Delvecchio
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W198898154