Attachment organization as a moderator of the link between friendship quality and adolescent delinquency

Abstract

This study examined attachment organization as a moderator of the link between the quality of the adolescents' current friendships and delinquent behavior. Data were gathered from a moderately at-risk sample of 71 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse adolescents. Results revealed a moderating effect of attachment organization (as assessed by the AAI) such that strong and supportive friendships were linked to lower levels of delinquency, but only when adolescents' attachment organization reflected an orientation toward heightened attention to attachment relationships (via preoccupation or via clear lack of dismissal of attachment). These results suggest that attachment organization plays an important role in delineating the conditions under which the qualities of social relationships are likely to be linked to important psychosocial outcomes.

Keywords:

• Attachment
• friendship
• delinquency

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Spencer, Smith Richardson, and William T. Grant Foundations.

Notes

1 The hypotheses were limited to dismissing and preoccupied styles, given that knowing the AAI Q-set scores in these two categories logically determines security scores.

2 The models presented were also tested using the security scale as a predictor. There was no main effect for security; friendship quality and security interacted such that friendship quality was negatively related to self-reported delinquency particularly for adolescents who presented a secure attachment organization.