(PS3-5) Associations of Attachment Quality to Parents with Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents - The Mediating Role of Hypermentalization and Emotion Regulation Difficulties

Abstract Text: Parent-child attachment plays a key role in child and adolescent development. Previous studies have shown that insecure attachment is associated with the emergence of internalizing problems, anxiety or depression. However, the mechanisms underlying these relations are not well understood. Mentalizing abilities including the processes of attributing and reflecting on one's own and others' mental states are crucial for social functioning, emotional regulation and self-organization. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that mentalizing abilities and emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relation between attachment security to parents and internalizing symptoms in adolescents. The study, conducted through an online research panel, included 642 adolescents (51% girls) aged 16-18 years. The sample was representative in terms of place of residence. The following methods were used: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Relationship Structures Questionnaire (ECR-RS) versions on the relationship with the mother and father, the Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – short form (DERS-SF). The results indicated that security of attachment to both mothers and fathers was negatively related to the severity of internalizing symptoms SEM analyses showed that emotion regulation difficulties as well as tendency to hypermentalizing manifesting by overinterpretation of mental states mediate the relation between attachment security to mother or father and internalizing symptoms in adolescents.
The results suggest that the development of emotion regulation and mentalizing abilities are worth considering when planning preventive or therapeutic interventions targeting adolescents with internalizing symptoms are needed.