The authors compared parent-related perceptions by hospitalized adolescents (i.e., who were admitted to a specialized psychiatric unit; n = 50) and delinquent adolescents (i.e., who were placed at a juvenile treatment institution; n = 51) with adolescents from the general population (n = 51). All adolescents completed a broad set of measures of attachment, perceived parenting, and separation-individuation. Contrary to initial expectations, hospitalized adolescents scored higher than controls on indices of excessive autonomy. Ambivalence regarding issues of interpersonal closeness and distance was found among delinquent adolescents. In addition, hospitalized and delinquent adolescents were found to be struggling, each in their specific way, with attachment-related experiences of trauma. Finally, delinquent adolescents also showed a stage-appropriate form of potentially adaptive narcissism. These findings add to the growing consensus in the literature that associations between adolescent psychopathology and parent-related perceptions are typically complex and somewhat counterintuitive.

This paper aims to analyze the "adolescent detachment" which is a kind of autonomy where the emotional separation is dysfunctional. The detachment concept is described following a developmental view; attachment, separation-individuation and successful emotional separation are described. Several kinds of detachment are defined depending of the attachment type and of the bio-psycho-social context from which the adolescent is. So, we hypothesize that the detachment in an adolescent population with delinquent behaviours is a "detached detachment". The subject avoids any emotional feeling. The detachment for young people who are hospitalised in chid and adolescent psychiatry follows a depressive way.These adolescents cannot handle emotional rush. Finally the detachment for the general young population can evolve according a more anxious way. Then we can talk about an "attached detachment". Thanks to a best knowledge of the separation kind that the adolescents play, we will be able to help them more with the symptoms they show. The "detachment