Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue "Advances in Attachment Processes in Adolescence and Adulthood: Contexts and Developmental Trajectories at Risk"

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Laura E. Prino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10024 Turin, Italy
Interests: attachment; parent–infant interaction; parenting; early development; caregiving; teacher–child interaction; professional caregiving; emotion regulation; family relationships; COVID-19

Dr. Angelica Arace

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10024 Turin, Italy
Interests: attachment; parenting; professional caregiving; family relationships; infancy development; child abuse and neglect; COVID-19; early childhood education and care

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, attachment theory, which was originally formulated to explain infant-parent emotional bonding, has been applied to the study of psychological processes also in adolescence and adulthood. Attachment theory predicts that attachment styles developed in previous relational experiences affect interpersonal functioning, emotion regulation and mentalization, the way people cope with stressful events and, consequently, their mental health.

In this frame, secure attachment can be considered a protective factor: interactions with available and supportive caregivers impart a sense of safety, trigger positive emotions and provide psychological resources for dealing with problems and adversities, increasing resilience and improving mental health. On the opposite side, interactions with insensitive, inconsistent or frightening attachment figures reduce resilience in coping with stressful life events, predisposing a person to breaking down psychologically in times of crisis. Thus, they are risk factors for mental disorders.

Today, this complex and constantly evolving theoretical paradigm allows describing, throughout the life cycle, not only the typical trajectories of development, but also atypical trajectories and the effects of attachment discontinuity and disorders.

The objective of this Special Issue is, therefore, to deepen the knowledge of attachment development processes, considering in particular the atypical developmental trajectories of attachment during adolescence and adulthood, characterized by contexts at risk and/or by critical paranormative events.

Possible areas of interest for this Special Issue comprise but are not limited to:

Maltreatment and abuse
Psychopathology and behavioral problems in adolescence and adulthood
Institutionalization
Traumatic experiences
Suicidal risk
Relational violence
Criminal careers
Adoption and foster care
Parenting in risky contexts
Addiction issues

Dr. Laura E. Prino
Dr. Angelica Arace
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

attachment
life cycle
adolescence
adulthood
critical paranormative events
attachment development processes
trajectories of development

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Open AccessArticle

Attachment Stability and Longitudinal Prediction of Psychotic-like Symptoms in Community Adolescents over Four Months of COVID-19 Pandemic

and

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(16), 6562; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20166562 - 11 Aug 2023

Viewed by 675

Abstract

Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attachment stability and attachment-related psychopathological processes in adolescence, but no studies have yet tested the test–retest reliability of this interview or the longitudinal association of attachment patterns in response to the FFI from adolescents with symptoms such as psychotic-like experiences (e.g., hallucinations, bizarre behavior, dissociation, self-harm) that are known to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study involved 102 community adolescents (M = 14.64, SD = 1.63, 46% males) assessed twice: during a severe COVID-19-related lockdown (in Italy) (T1) and four months later (T2). Measures were the FFI (assessing attachment patterns: secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissing, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized) and the thought problems scale of the Youth Self-Report to assess psychotic-like symptoms. Results: revealed high stability of four-way attachment classifications over four months (93.5%), with a modest yet significant link between higher disorganization at T1 and higher scores of thought problems at T2, p = 0.010. Conclusions: The FFI shows high test–retest reliability and can be a valid, age-adapted option to assess adolescents’ attachment. Attachment disorganization should be further investigated as possibly related to psychotic-like experiences in community adolescents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Attachment Processes in Adolescence and Adulthood: Contexts and Developmental Trajectories at Risk)

Open AccessArticle

eCONNECT Parent Group: An Online Attachment-Based Intervention to Reduce Attachment Insecurity, Behavioral Problems, and Emotional Dysregulation in Adolescence

Ilaria Maria Antonietta Benzi

and

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3532; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043532 - 17 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1218

Abstract

During adolescence, a secure parent–adolescent relationship promotes youths’ adjustment and psychological well-being. In this scenario, several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the CONNECT program, a 10-session, attachment-based parenting intervention that helps parents understand and reframe their parent–adolescent interactions, reducing adolescents’ insecure attachment and behavioral problems. Furthermore, recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the implementation of effective online versions of psychological interventions, emphasizing the opportunity for more agile and easier dissemination of evidence-based protocols. Therefore, this study aims to identify changes in adolescents’ attachment insecurity, behavioral problems, and parent–child affect regulation strategies, providing preliminary findings on an online, 10-session, attachment-based parenting intervention (eCONNECT). A total of 24 parents (20 mothers, 4 fathers; M_age = 49.33, SD = 5.32) of adolescents (M_age = 13.83 years, SD = 1.76, 45.8% girls) were assessed on their adolescents’ attachment insecurity (avoidance and anxiety) and behavioral problems (externalizing and internalizing), and on their affect regulation strategies in the parent–child interaction (adaptive reflection, suppression, and affect dysregulation) at three time points: before intervention (t0), after intervention (t1), and at a 2-month follow-up (t2). Mixed-effects regression models highlighted a reduction in adolescents’ internalizing problems (d = 0.11), externalizing problems (d = 0.29), and attachment avoidance (d = 0.26) after the intervention. Moreover, the reduction in externalizing problems and attachment avoidance remained stable at follow-up. Additionally, our findings highlighted a reduction in parent–child affect dysregulation. Results add preliminary evidence on the implementation suitability of an online attachment-based parenting intervention to change at-risk adolescents’ developmental trajectories by reducing attachment insecurity, behavioral problems, and parent–child affect regulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Attachment Processes in Adolescence and Adulthood: Contexts and Developmental Trajectories at Risk)

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Displaying articles 1-2

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Special Issue "Advances in Attachment Processes in Adolescence and Adulthood: Contexts and Developmental Trajectories at Risk"

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (2 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI