(provided by candidate): This study will examine intrapsychic mechanisms that may account for links between qualities of adolescents relationships with their parents and social and psychological outcomes over time. Although the historic and current quality of parent-child/adolescent relationships significantly influences both social and psychological development, very little is understood about the intrapsychic mechanisms that may mediate this influence. Additionally, current insight-oriented, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, family, and group psycliotherapies may be more effectively conceptualized and delivered within a developmental framework that includes context-specific, individual experience. Based on underlying assumptions of Bowlby's attachment theory, as well as on research describing intrapsychic correlates of individuals classified as insecure, this study conceptualizes two possible intrapsychic mechanisms by which attachment organization may function. Using a multi-method, multi-reporter, longitudinal design with a diverse sample of 186 adolescents, this study extends extant literature by exploring interview assessed attachment organization, and potential mechanisms by which it may function (affective arousal and cognitive flexibility), as mediators of the links between qualities of parent-adolescent relationships and maladaptive social and psychological outcomes over time.
