title: Adolescent insecure attachment as a predictor of maladaptive coping and externalizing behaviors in emerging adulthood.
abstract: This study investigated whether insecure adolescent attachment organization (i.e., preoccupied and dismissing) longitudinally predicted self- and peer-reported externalizing behavior in emerging adulthood. Secondarily, maladaptive coping strategies were examined for their potential role in mediating the relationship between insecure attachment and future externalizing behaviors. Target participants (N = 184) were given the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) at age 14 and re-interviewed seven and eight years later with their closest peer. Qualities of both preoccupied and dismissing attachment organization predicted self-reported externalizing behaviors in emerging adulthood eight years later, but only preoccupation was predictive of close-peer reports of emerging adult externalizing behavior. Maladaptive coping strategies only mediated the relationship between a dismissing stance toward attachment and future self-reported externalizing behaviors. Understanding the role of coping and emotional regulation in attachment may help us to understand the unique aspects of both dismissing and preoccupied stances toward attachment.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Ohio University , Athens , USA.
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Emily G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Marston
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hafen
authors.forename: Megan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Schad
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D010379:Peer Group; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adult Attachment Interview; coping strategies; emerging adulthood; externalizing behaviors; insecure attachment