Early Adolescent Attachment to Parents, Emotional Problems, and Teacher-Academic Worries About the Middle School Transition

• NCJ Number: 228826
• Journal: Journal of Early Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2009 Pages: 743-766
• Author(s): Stephane Duchesne; Catherine F. Ratelle; Sarah-Caroline Poitras; Evelyne Drouin
• Date Published: October 2009
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated the links between attachment security to mother and father and the development of school worries related to the transition to middle school and whether this relationship was mediated through adolescents' emotional problems.

Abstract

Results of the study support the hypothesis that manifestations of emotional problems among adolescents play a mediating role in the link between attachment to parents and teacher-academic worries about the middle school transition. Specifically, the results show that attachment security to parents, especially the mother, predict fewer anxiety symptoms among adolescents, which in turn, lower levels of teacher-academic worries about the transition to middle school. Study implications and limitations were reported and discussed. In a sample of 626 young adolescents in sixth grade, this study examined how attachment to mother and father predicted worries about academic demands and relationships with teachers generated by the transition from elementary to middle school through its contribution to adolescents' emotional problems (depression and anxiety). Tables, figures, and references