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http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10578-016-0639-2&domain=pdf
Web End = Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2017) 48:270282
DOI 10.1007/s10578-016-0639-2
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10578-016-0639-2&domain=pdf
Web End = ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Assessing Attachment Representations in Adolescents: Discriminant Validation of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System
Manuela Gander1,4 Carol George2 Dan Pokorny3 Anna Buchheim1
Published online: 26 March 2016 The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract The contribution of attachment to human development and clinical risk is well established for children and adults, yet there is relatively limited knowledge about attachment in adolescence due to the poor availability of construct valid measures. The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) is a reliable and valid instrument to assess adult attachment status. This study examines for the rst time the discriminant validity of the AAP in adolescents. In our sample of 79 teenagers between 15 and 18 years, 42 % were classied as secure, 34 % as insecure-dismissing, 13 % as insecure-preoccupied and 11 % as unresolved. The results demonstrated discriminant validity for using the AAP in that age group, with no associations between attachment classications and verbal intelligence, social desirability, story length or sociodemographic variables. These results poise the AAP to be used in clinical intervention and large-scale research investigating normative and atypical developmental correlates and sequelae of attachment, including psychopathology in adolescence.
Keywords Adolescence Attachment representation
Adult Attachment Projective Projective Picture System
Clinical attachment research Validity
Introduction
The study of attachment, its assessment and clinical applications during adolescence promises to provide a far-reaching insight into underlying mechanisms of personality development and early psychopathology [14]. Adolescence is a period of profound transformation during which a major goal is to develop an integrated sense of self and autonomy from parents [5]. This process balances establishing culturally dened parental distance while maintaining trust in parents availability, responsiveness, and sensitivity. Autonomy is successfully reached through open communication of emotional states and thoughts of each member of the child-parent dyad [6]. The quality of parentchild attachment relationships in adolescence is fundamental to well-being. Longitudinal attachment studies have shown that childhood attachment security is associated with positive interaction in relationships in early adolescence (parents, friendships, romantic partners) and reduced likelihood of developing problematic behavior [6]. Childhood attachment security and insecurity appear to be buffer and risk factors respectively for...