Attachment and loss in the context of US immigration: caregiver separation and characteristics of internal working models of attachment in high school students

ABSTRACT

Attachment affects a child’s well-being across their lifespan. This study aimed to describe internal working models of attachment in immigrant adolescents – an often overlooked population that frequently experiences caregiver separation. Data were collected from a high school for recently immigrated youth. Attachment was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview (CAI; n = 35) and personal experiences of separation from caregivers were assessed using a semi-structured interview (n = 31). Findings indicated 62.1% of respondents experienced the migration of one of their caregivers. Separation from mothers was linked to lower maternal attachment security. Descriptive data supported this result. Despite a small sample size, the current study utilized interview-based methods to provide in-depth characterizations of parental separation and adolescent attachment in an understudied population. Finally, the current study has implications for public policy debates regarding immigrant families, which have recently surged.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigrant
• adolescent
• child attachment interview
• Latino
• separation

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the youth and families that participated in this research, the research assistants who assisted with the study, and the funding that made this work possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, AV. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Notes

1. Respondent statements were translated from Spanish to English by the first author AV.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by: Sam Houston State University’s Enhancing Faculty Research Grant [no grant number] and Sam Houston State University’s FAST Grant [no grant number].