A longitudinal study in the U.S. found that adolescents with less secure attachment to their fathers tend to have higher levels of both internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms. More severe externalizing symptoms were associated with more frequent alcohol consumption 1-2 years later. Emotional attachment to their mothers was not associated with these symptoms. The research was published in Developmental Science.
Emotional attachment is a deep, enduring bond that forms between individuals, characterized by feelings of affection, security, and a strong desire for closeness. It is a fundamental aspect of human relationships, beginning in early childhood with caregivers and extending to friendships, romantic partnerships, and even pets. Emotional attachment provides a sense of stability and support, helping individuals cope with stress and navigate life’s challenges. Secure attachments foster healthy development, emotional well-being, and social functioning, while insecure attachment can lead to difficulties in relationships and emotional regulation.
Previous studies have established a link between mental health and emotional attachment. Insecure emotional attachment is thought to give rise to both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Internalizing symptoms are emotional and behavioral issues directed inward, such as anxiety, depression, and withdrawal. Externalizing symptoms involve behaviors directed outward, toward other people and the environment, including aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, and conduct problems.
Adolescence is a key period for the emergence of both types of mental health issues. For many individuals, this is the time when these problems first appear. Study author Claudia Clinchard and her colleagues sought to explore how the link between insecure attachment and mental health develops as children grow up. They were also interested in how substance use fits into the interplay of these factors. They questioned whether attachment insecurity directly leads to substance use (e.g., alcoholism), which, in turn, exacerbates mental health symptoms, or if mental health symptoms lead to substance use.
The study involved 167 adolescents and one of their caregivers, recruited from a southeastern state in the U.S. The adolescents were 13-14 years old at the start of the study, which followed them for five years, until they were 18-20 years old. Forty-seven percent of the participants were girls, and 78% identified as white. Seventy-eight percent of the participating caregivers were mothers.
Study participants answered questionnaires at five different time points over five years. At the first two time points, participants completed assessments of their attachments to their mothers and fathers separately, using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. At time points three and four, participants completed assessments of internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms using the Youth Self-Report. Finally, at the last time point, participants rated how often they drank alcohol.
Results showed that adolescents with more secure attachment to their mothers tended to also have more secure attachment to their fathers. Those with less secure attachment to their fathers tended to have more mental health symptoms, both internalizing and externalizing. Attachment to mothers was not associated with these symptoms. Additionally, girls tended to have more pronounced internalizing symptoms.
Alcohol use was associated with externalizing symptoms—adolescents with more externalizing symptoms tended to drink alcohol more often. However, aside from the influence of externalizing symptoms, there was no direct link between emotional attachment to either parent and alcohol use. This suggests that insecure attachment to fathers likely increases the risk of alcohol use by adolescents by increasing their risk of developing mental health symptoms, particularly of the externalizing type.
“Our findings highlight the significance of the adolescent–father relationship in a developmental cascading pathway, wherein adolescent–father attachment during middle adolescence plays a critical role in the development of externalizing symptoms in late adolescence, and, in turn, predicts subsequent alcohol use during the transition to young adulthood,” the study authors concluded.
“The findings from the current study support the theoretical perspective that emphasizes the importance of social relationship factors in substance use disorders by illustrating that insecure adolescent–father attachment sets the stage for the developmental cascade into more externalizing symptoms and more alcohol use.”
The study sheds light on the likely effects of child-father attachment, particularly in early adolescence, on mental health symptoms later in life. However, all studied factors were assessed using self-reports, which could introduce reporting bias. Studies examining these relationships using data from multiple informants might yield different results.
The study, “Longitudinal links from attachment with mothers and fathers to adolescent substance use: Internalizing and externalizing pathways,” was authored by Claudia Clinchard, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Brooks Casas, and Jungmeen Kim-Spoon.