This study sought to identify ways in which adolescent attachment security, as assessed via the Adult Attachment Interview, is manifest in qualities of the secure base provided by the mother-adolescent relationship. Assessments included data coded from mother-adolescent interactions, test-based data, and adolescent self-reports obtained from an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of moderately at-risk 9th and 10th graders. This study found several robust markers of adolescent attachment security in the motheradolescent relationship. Each of these markers was found to contribute unique variance to explaining adolescent security, and in combination, they accounted for as much as 40% of the raw variance in adolescent security. These findings suggest that security is closely connected to the workings of the mother-adolescent relationship via a secure-base phenomenon, in which the teen can explore independence in thought and speech from the secure base of a maternal relationship characterized by maternal attunement to the adolescent and maternal supportiveness.

To explore the meaning and function of attachment organization during adolescence, its relation to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning was examined in a sample of 131 moderately at-risk adolescents. Attachment organization was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview; multiple measures of functioning were obtained from parents, adolescents, and their peers. Security displayed in adolescents' organization of discourse about attachment experiences was related to competence with peers (as reported by peers), lower levels of internalizing behaviors (as reported by adolescents), and lower levels of deviant behavior (as reported by peers and by mothers). Preoccupation with attachment experiences, seen in angry or diffuse and unfocused discussion of attachment experiences, was linked to higher levels of both internalizing and deviant behaviors. These relations generally remained even when other attachment-related constructs that had been previously related to adolescent functioning were covaried in analysis. Results are interpreted as suggesting an important role for attachment organization in a wide array of aspects of adolescent psychosocial development.

PURPOSE We conducted a two phase, mixed methods study to develop a Parenting Concerns Questionnaire (PCQ) for adults with cancer. Limited information about this area of psychosocial distress highlights the need for a measurement tool that can identify adult oncology patients with heightened parenting concerns who could benefit from additional intervention. PATIENTS AND METHODS Telephone focus groups were conducted with 16 oncology patients who had children 18 years old and younger. Group interview transcripts were analyzed to generate qualitative themes and candidate items for the PCQ. A 38-item version of the questionnaire was completed by 173 oncology outpatients with children 18 years old and under. Participants also completed the Distress Thermometer, HADS, and FACT-G. Exploratory factor analyses revealed the emergence of 3 subscales of 5 items each, yielding a 15 item questionnaire. Associations between total PCQ scores, standardized measures of distress, depression, anxiety, quality of life, and demographic and illness characteristics were examined. RESULTS The 15 item PCQ demonstrates good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .83). PCQ scores were significantly associated (p<.01) with standardized measures of psychosocial distress (Distress Thermometer, HADS, and FACT-G) in the expected directions. Higher PCQ scores were associated with female gender, single parenthood, metastatic or recurrent cancer, subjective understanding of incurable disease, co-morbid chronic health condition, and current mental health treatment. CONCLUSIONS The Parenting Concerns Questionnaire proved a reliable and valid measure of parenting distress among cancer patients meriting further study.

A history of exposure to harsh physical discipline has been linked to negative outcomes for children, ranging from conduct disorder to depression and low self-esteem. The present study extends this work into adolescence, and examines the relationship of lifetime histories of harsh discipline to adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms and to their developing capacities for establishing autonomy and relatedness in family interactions. Adolescent and parent reports of harsh discipline, independently coded observations of conflictual interactions, and adolescent reports of symptoms were obtained for 141 adolescents at age 16. Both parents' use of harsh discipline was related to greater adolescent depression and externalizing behavior, even when these effects were examined over and above the effects of other parenting measures known to account for these symptoms. Adolescents exposed to harsh discipline from mothers were also less likely to appear warm and engaged during an interaction task with their mothers. It is suggested that a history of harsh discipline is associated not only with social and emotional functioning, but also with the developmental task of autonomy and relatedness.One of the central debates within the literature on parenting behavior concerns the implications of harsh physical discipline. Although generally accepted that more serious forms of physical abuse are associated with negative outcomes, there is less consensus about the larger continuum of discipline behaviors. Some researchers believe that mild to moderate behaviors, such as spanking and slapping, are not harmful for children (Baumrind, Larzelere, & Cowan, 2002), whereas others argue these behaviors predict a more negative trajectory (Gershoff, 2002). Furthermore, there is little evidence about whether harsh parental discipline is associated with developmental progress during the adolescent years. To date, most studies have examined the behavioral and emotional sequelae of harsh punishment and physical abuse during childhood (Strassberg, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994;Toth, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1992), rather than the developmental course as it unfolds in adolescence. The goal of this paper is twofold: to examine the links between harsh is parental discipline and developing autonomy and relatedness in the parent-adolescent NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript relationship, and to examine the relationship between harsh parental discipline and selected behavioral outcomes outside of the family context. This paper first focuses on difficulties in achieving a primary task of social development during adolescence, establishing autonomy while maintaining a sense of relatedness with parents, as a possible correlate of harsh physical discipline. Many contemporary theorists recognize this task as a defining aspect of the parent-adolescent relationship and a marker of healthy relationships into adulthood Silverberg & Gondoli, 1996). The ability to handle this challenge has been linked to high...