Infant Attachment Security and Early Childhood Behavioral Inhibition Interact to Predict Adolescent Social Anxiety Symptoms

Overview

Journal Child Dev

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2014 Dec 19

PMID 25522059

Citations 17

Authors

Erin Lewis-Morrarty

Kathryn A Degnan

Andrea Chronis-Tuscano

Daniel S Pine

Heather A Henderson

Nathan A Fox

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Insecure attachment and behavioral inhibition (BI) increase risk for internalizing problems, but few longitudinal studies have examined their interaction in predicting adolescent anxiety. This study included 165 adolescents (ages 14-17 years) selected based on their reactivity to novelty at 4 months. Infant attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation. Multimethod BI assessments were conducted across childhood. Adolescents and their parents independently reported on anxiety. The interaction of attachment and BI significantly predicted adolescent anxiety symptoms, such that BI and anxiety were only associated among adolescents with histories of insecure attachment. Exploratory analyses revealed that this effect was driven by insecure-resistant attachment and that the association between BI and social anxiety was significant only for insecure males. Clinical implications are discussed.

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