The transition to early adulthood in the inner city: Attachment and resilience.
Item
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Title
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The transition to early adulthood in the inner city: Attachment and resilience.
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Identifier
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AAI3115236
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identifier
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3115236
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Creator
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Cohen, Jennifer E.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven Tuber
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Date
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2004
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This study explored the relation between attachment quality and developmental trajectories in inner-city, ethnically diverse youth during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. Although there is much literature about this transition, relatively little attention has been paid to the trajectories of inner-city youth who are at greater risk for difficulties due to stressors associated with risk factors such as poverty and minority status. Despite these risks, many youth thrive into adulthood and exhibit resilient outcomes (Seidman, 1991). Attachment quality has been associated with identity development, psychopathology and social competence and is investigated as a mediator in the relation between risk and adaptation.;Subjects for the study included a sub-group of twenty-nine young adults, aged 22--25, who participated in a short-term longitudinal study of urban youth (the Adolescent Pathways Project). Using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, analyses examined the association between adolescent risk status, attachment quality, and developmental outcome in young adulthood. Data for the quantitative segment included self-report measures of attachment and psychological symptomatology in adolescence and young adulthood. Qualitative analyses were based on in-depth interviews designed to elicit themes related to development and attachment experiences.;The majority of quantitative findings were trend level associations including: (1) an overall decrease in total symptomatology profiles from adolescence to young adulthood; (2) secure and dismissing attachment classification was associated with lower internalizing scores in young adulthood; and (3) higher attachment to peers in adolescence was associated with lower symptomatology scores in young adulthood. No statistically significant associations were found between attachment in adolescence and young adulthood or between risk category group and attachment.;The qualitative results highlighted a number of themes: (1) the impact of family attachment experiences on trajectories, especially identity and decision-making processes; (2) the impact of peer groups on school, career, and childbearing decisions; (3) the role of ethnic and cultural identifications in adaptation; and (4) secure and dismissing individuals described themselves as more successful in young adulthood, with fearful individuals reporting more mixed outcomes. Furthermore, attachment was not associated with patterns of psychopathology, and results suggested that internalizing scores were largely independent of attachment classification.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
