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

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Abstract

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.

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Author Contribution

C.C. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, conducted statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript. C.O., R.K., and G.D. participated in the design and interpretation of data as well as revision of the manuscript. JH participated in the design and coordination, conducted statistical analyses, and helped to draft and revise the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant R01-MH091059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Cindy J. Chang

  2. Center for Behavioral Health, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 282 Washington Street, Hartford, CT, 06106, USA

    Christine McCauley Ohannessian

  3. Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA

    Christine McCauley Ohannessian

  4. Center for Family Intervention Science, Drexel University, 3020 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    E. Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing & Guy S. Diamond

  5. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Roger Kobak

  6. Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Rd., Ewing, NJ, 08628, USA

    Joanna Herres

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  1. Cindy J. Chang
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  2. Christine McCauley Ohannessian
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  3. E. Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing
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Correspondence to Cindy J. Chang.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Rutgers University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Chang, C.J., Ohannessian, C.M., Krauthamer Ewing, E.S. et al. Attachment and Parent-Adolescent Discrepancies in Reports of Family Functioning among Suicidal Adolescents. J Child Fam Stud 29, 227–236 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01566-7

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