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Age and sex differences in the influence of attachment relationships on adolescent psychological health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Ross B Wilkinson
Ross B Wilkinson*
Affiliation:
The Australian National University
*
School of Psychology, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Email: Ross.Wilkinson@anu.edu.au
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Abstract

The quality of adolescent attachment with mothers, fathers, and peers, and the impact of these relationships on psychological health and self-esteem is examined in a sample of 615 high school students. Using an attachment theory perspective, it is argued that different attachment relationships have different affects on adjustment depending on age and gender. Results support the view that attachment develops in peer relationships before withdrawing from parental relationships in adolescence and that this process occurs at different ages and has different consequences for self-esteem and depression. Mother attachment had a greater impact on psychological adjustment for girls while father attachment had a greater impact for boys. It is concluded that while an attachment framework is useful for understanding developmental changes in relationship networks during adolescence, further individual difference and developmental factors may need to be considered.

Keywords

Adolescent attachmentPsychosocial health
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , 2006 , pp. 87 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2006

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