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

Cecilia Serena Pace (), Stefania Muzi, Wanda Morganti and Howard Steele
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Cecilia Serena Pace: Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, 16128 Genoa, Italy
Stefania Muzi: Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, 16128 Genoa, Italy
Wanda Morganti: Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, 16128 Genoa, Italy
Howard Steele: Center for Attachment Research, New School for Social Research, New York, NY 10011, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 16, 1-13

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.

Keywords: Friends and Family Interview; adolescence; attachment; test–retest; psychometric study; psychotic symptoms; psychotic-like experiences; dissociation; hallucinations; Youth Self-Report (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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