Thesis Literature Review Sample

TheRelationshipBetweenAtachmentand
AdolescentDepression
LiteratureReview
Depressionisaconditionthatafectsmorethan25%ofadolescents.Itisa
typeofdisorderwhichdisturbstheirfocusandmood,causingalossof
pleasureandinterestindoingactivitiesthattheyaresupposedtoenjoy,
makingthem quiteiritable.Diferentthingsarethoughtasrelatedwiththe
feelingofdepressionamongadolescents.Amongthoseexamplesareafailure
toidentifyasanindividual,insecurerelationshipsandatachments,negative
representations,etc.(Milke&Lawner,2003;Olsen,Northen,Arphel,&Knor,
2001).Inthisthesis,therolethatatachmentplaysamongadolescents
experiencingdepressionwilbeinvestigated.Itisbeinghypothesizedthat
adolescentswhoareatachedinsecurely,eitheravoidantorambivalent,has
thetendencytodisplayahigherlevelofsymptomsthataredepressionrelated,
aswelasbehaviorscomparedtoadolescentsthatareatachedsecurely.
InaresearcharticlepresentedbySeltzer(1998),twoquestionssurfaced
duringthestudy.Thesequestionswereselectedtoserveasaguide.First,
wouldthoseintheagegroupof18to21corespondinqualityandfrequency
todiferentatachmentpaternsthatarebeingreportedbyotherprofessional
researchers? Second,would characteristics and personalities ofsecure
adolescentatachmentsberelatedwithpersonalitycharacteristicsofchild
andinfantstudies?Thefocusoftheinvestigationwasonthelatefemale
adolescentpaterns,particularlymaternal,withtheuseofasemi-structured
interview.Ithasbeenhypothesizedthatfemaleswhoaresecurelyatached
wiloftenhaveastrongpositiveidentification,especialytowardstheirmother,
lowerscoresondepressionandhigherratingsofself-esteem.

Thesampleoriginalyconsistedof1001random studentsofpsychologyata
colege.However,afterperformingsomeproceduresinscreening,aswelas
theimportancetohaveequalnumbersacrossalcategoriesofatachment.As
aresult,thenumberwasreducedto28inthestudy.
Theresultsusedinthisstudysupportedthemainhypothesisthatrelative
percentagesofatachmentsinvolved,includingavoidant,ambivalentand
secure,would corespond to the reported data by the infantstudies
(Stephenson,2003).The results also showed thatthere was a relative
diferenceinpersonalitycharacteristicsinbetweentheambivalentandsecure
groups.Femalesthatareambivalentlyatachedweremoredepressed,and
have been reported to have lowerrates ofself-esteem compared to
adolescentswhoaresecurelyatached(Faulkner,2002).Ontheotherhand,the
avoidantatachmentgroupwasalsointhemiddleofbothambivalentand
securegroupsinrelationtoself-esteem anddepression,thoughtheywerenot
significantlydiferentfrom eitherofthegroups.Ithasalsobeenreportedthat
femaleadolescentswhoaresecurelyatachedhavearelativelymorepositive
andmaternalidentificationcomparedtothosewhoareambivalentlyatached,
andavoidantfemaleadolescentswhoarecategorizedinthemiddle(Salazar,
2010).
Aloftheseresultsarecombinedtogethertogiveconfirmationtothe
hypothesisthatpersonalityandcharacteristicssuchasinterpersonalskils,
positiveafect,andself-esteem corelatestochildandinfantpersonality
characteristics ofthose undersecure atachments (Singh,1999).One
limitationtothisstudy,however,isthattheresultsarenotlongitudinal.This
meansthatitrestson thecurentsituation ratherthan atthestartof
childhood,folowingthelivesofthefemalesastheyweredeveloping.Another
studylimitationisthatthesampleonlyconsistedofalfemaleparticipants.
Thesecorelationsmaybesignificantlydiferentifboyswereinvolved(Peters,
2007).

Next,thetopiconatachmentrelatedtoadolescentdepressionisalso
addresseddependingonsocialnetworks.InastudybyOwneretal.(2001),two
questionssurfaced.First,doadolescentssuferingfrom depressionhavemore
limitedorinsuficientsocialnetwork?Second,dotheyview emotionalstatus
oftheirfamilyasnegative?Thegoalofthisstudyistofurtherinvestigateon
the socialnetworks involving depressed adolescents,with and without
conductdisorder,comparingtheresultswithsocialnetworksofthecontrol
group.
Theresultsshow thatanadolescentdealingwithmajordepressiondoesnot
significantlydiferfrom thecontrols.Therearenodeficienciesinatachment,
socialinteractionsaswelasfamilyclimate.Thisfindingisnotexplained
easilyotherthantheindividualswhoarelessafectedbydepressivethinking.
Also,adolescentswhoaredealingwithdysthymia,ordoubledepressionfeel
thattheirmaincaregiverisavailable,thoughinadequateattimes(Mathews,
2001).Theseresultsgiveconfirmationtothehypothesisthatadolescentswho
aredepressedusualyhavealimited,insuficientsocialnetwork,andthatthey
usualyview theconditionsoftheirfamilyasnegative.Parentshad no
involvementinthesestudies.Anotherobviouslimitationisthatthecontrols
wereselectedfrom theentiregroupafterscreeningashavingascoreunder
moderatedepression.Thecontrolsmayalsonotbecompletelyfreefrom
depression.
References
Faulker,T.(2002).Atachmenttheoryintheframeworkofunderstandingseverepsychopathologyinadolescents.Afolow-upstudy.Journalof
ClinicalPsychology,34(2),155,163.
Mathews,H.A.(2001).Depressionpredictorsamongfemaleadolescents.AdolescenceToday,38,209-234.
Milke,A.E.,&Lawner,Y.T.(2003).Self-reportedstyleofatachment,depressionandanxietysymptomsamongyoungadolescents.Individualand
PersonalityDiferences,30(2),809-810.
Olsen,H.,Northern,P.,Arphel,H.A,&.Knor,E.R.(2001).Adolescentdepression:Familyclimateandsocialnetwork–acontrolstudy.Journalof
PsychiatryPsychologyandAliedDisciplines,40(2),344-356.
Owner,H.,Peters,Q.,Poter,A.,Poppins,H.,&Granger,A.(2001).Primaryatachmentamongfemaleadolescents:Connectionwithself-esteem,
depressionandmaternalidentification.BiologicalandInterpersonalProcessesinPsychiatry,52,21-22.
Peters,Z.(2007).Depressionamongadolescents–theself-centereddepression.ThePsychologyJournal,34(3)-67-69.
Salazar,T.(2010).Thecorelationbetweendepressionandexternalfactorsamongadolescents,ClinicalPsychology,34,(2),45-47.
Seltzer,O.P.(1998).Theimpactofself-esteem,acceptanceanddepressionamongadolescents.Psychiatry:BiologicalProcedures,34(2),78-79.
Singh,Y.T.(1999).Predictorsofearlydepression.Adolescence,56(1),314-324.
Stephenson,W.E.(2003).Reportonatachmentquality,self-reportedatachmentstyle,andsymptomsofdepressionandanxietyonyounger
adolescentsinthemoderngeneration.IndividualandPersonalityPsychologyJournal,5(2),677-688.