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C. A. Obeldobel Thesis.pdf (697.57 KB)

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The Relations between Parent-Child Attachment, Negative and Positive Emotion, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Obeldobel, Carli Ann
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1555572284386716

Abstract Details

2019, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
Attachment is inextricably linked to emotion, although less is known about positive emotion and dynamic measures of emotion in middle childhood. The development of a secure attachment relationship is also predictive of a child's depressive symptoms, and this relationship has been proposed to be explained by a mechanism such as emotion. The goal of the present study is therefore to investigate associations among attachment, emotion, and depressive symptoms by (1) examining how average and dynamic measures of negative and positive emotion are related to attachment patterns and (2) investigating measures of emotion as mechanisms explaining the relation between attachment patterns and depressive symptoms in middle childhood. Parent-child attachment was coded from a story stem method, emotion was reported via daily diaries, and depressive symptoms were measured using the short version of the Children's Depression Inventory 2. In a sample of Midwestern children (N=102, M=10.4 years), attachment security was not related to emotion; greater attachment avoidance was associated with less mean positive emotion; greater attachment ambivalence was associated with greater mean negative emotion and mean positive emotion; and greater attachment disorganization was associated with greater positive emotion instability. The association between attachment ambivalence and depressive symptoms was not explained by mean negative emotion. These findings provide insight into the emotion profiles for different attachment patterns in middle childhood and have clinical implications for children's well-being and mental health.
Kathryn Kerns, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Jeffrey Ciesla, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Karin Coifman, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Christopher Flessner, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
57 p.
Developmental Psychology; Psychology
parent-child attachment, negative emotion, positive emotion, emotion instability, depressive symptoms

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Obeldobel, C. A. (2019). The Relations between Parent-Child Attachment, Negative and Positive Emotion, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1555572284386716

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Obeldobel, Carli. The Relations between Parent-Child Attachment, Negative and Positive Emotion, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood. 2019. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1555572284386716.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Obeldobel, Carli. "The Relations between Parent-Child Attachment, Negative and Positive Emotion, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1555572284386716

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1555572284386716
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.