The Mediational Effect of Affect Dysregulation on the Association Between Attachment to Parents and Oppositional Defiant
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Mediational Effect of Affect Dysregulation on the Association Between Attachment to Parents and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms in Adolescents Stephanie G. Craig1,2 · Carlos Sierra Hernandez2 · Marlene M. Moretti2 · Debra J. Pepler1 Accepted: 8 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a childhood disorder, commonly occurring in early school aged children with some symptoms becoming normative in adolescence (e.g., irritability, disagreeing). Affect dysregulation is a risk factor in the development of ODD. Affect regulation is nurtured within parent–child relationships, thus disruptions to attachment may derail children’s capacity to develop adaptive affect regulation, increasing the risk for ODD. Using a high-risk sample of adolescents, we investigated the association between attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance with ODD through affect dysregulation. Attachment anxiety, but not avoidance, was associated with affect dysregulation and ODD. Affect dysregulation was found to fully mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and ODD concurrently and prospectively. Similar findings have been demonstrated among children; results show that attachment anxiety, and its effects on affect dysregulation, are associated with ODD symptoms well into adolescence. Keywords Adolescence · Oppositional defiant disorder · Affect dysregulation · Attachment Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is often regarded as a childhood specific disorder, most commonly occurring in early school aged children [1] with some symptoms becoming fairly normative behavior in adolescence (e.g., irritability, disagreeing with adults). However, high levels of ODD symptoms in adolescence have been negatively associated with critical developmental tasks such as academic achievement [2, 3], emotional development, and quality of peer relationships [2, 4–6]. Understanding what puts adolescents at risk of developing ODD symptoms is critical in the prevention and intervention of this disorder. Recently, Cavanagh et al. [7] proposed that ODD may be a disorder of regulation, and pointed to lack of affect regulation as a key risk factor in the development of ODD symptoms. The relationship between insecure attachment and affect regulation has been studied extensively in infancy and early childhood [8], however, research on the link between attachment and affect * Stephanie G. Craig [email protected] 1
York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON M3J1P3, Canada
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2
regulation in adolescence is limited, especially in relations to negative outcomes, such as ODD symptoms. The aim of the current study is to explore whether affect regulation serves as a mediating process through which attachment insecurity is associated with an increased risk of ODD symptoms in mid to late adolescence. Affect regulation is defined in this paper as the ability to modulate one’s emotions, moods, and feeling
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