Can attachment and peer relation constructs predict anxiety in ethnic minority youths? A longitudinal exploratory study

ABSTRACT

Anxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric disturbance in childhood effecting typically 15–20% of all youth. It has been associated with attachment insecurity and reduced competence in peer relations. Prior work has been limited by including mainly White samples, relying on questionnaires, and applying a cross-sectional design. The present study addressed these limitations by considering how at-risk non-White youth (n = 34) responded to the Friends and Family Interview (FFI) in middle childhood and how this linked up with anxiety symptoms and an anxiety diagnosis three years later in early adolescence. Five dimensions of secure attachment, namely, (i) to mother, (ii) to father, (iii) coherence, (iv) developmental understanding, and (v) social competence and quality of contact with best friend in middle childhood, were found to correlate significantly (and negatively) with self-reported anxiety symptoms. Linear regression results showed independent influences of female gender, and (low) quality of best friend contact as the most efficient model predicting anxiety symptoms. Logistic regression results suggested a model that included female gender, low social competence, and immature developmental understanding as efficient predictors of an anxiety diagnosis, evident in only 18% of the sample. These results point to the usefulness of after-school programs for at-risk minority youth in promoting peer competence, developmental awareness, and minimizing anxiety difficulties.

KEYWORDS:

• Attachment
• anxiety
• longitudinal study
• adolescence
• ethnic minority

Acknowledgements

The study was made possible by funding of the first author by the Marie Curie Actions – International Outgoing Fellowships [grant number 300300]. We would like to thank the youth and staff at the “I Have A Dream” Foundation-New York afterschool program for their continued participation in the longitudinal project. We would also like to thank the students at the Centre for Attachment Research for assisting with data collections, and especially Katrine Wendelboe and Sivi Svenning for assisting in collecting ADIS interviews.