Challenge and Youth at Risk Intervention - 4
Attachment theory proposes that humans develop relationships with one another and that these relationships are essential for survival. Central to this idea is the idea that attachment relationships are formed early in life and that these relationships set the pattern for future relationships. John Bowlby, a British psychoanalyst considered the father of attachment theory, developed the idea that these early relationships function as a kind of internal program.
Research shows that insecure attachment in adolescence is strongly associated with mental health difficulties, including suicidal behaviors and substance abuse. Insecure attachment in adolescence has also been linked to internalizing behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression, and externalizing behavioral problems such as conduct difficulties and oppositional behavior. Therefore, a therapeutic focus on changing adolescent attachments makes sense because of the impact this can have on psychopathology.
Engagement processes in nature care
Nature therapy provides an ideal environment for examining changes in attachment because clients experience losses, separations, and reunions—all of which trigger attachment needs. A study of 96 adolescents ages 14-17 who participated in a 7-week nature therapy program found complex and interesting results regarding changes in attachment relationships.
The findings showed an improvement in attachment relationships in terms of decreased anger and increased emotional connection towards parents. Adolescents reported less anger and alienation towards their mother and father by the end of treatment. This is a positive finding indicating that the program was successful in improving the emotional quality of the relationship between parents and adolescents.
However, the results also showed that adolescents reported more problematic attachment relationships in terms of trust and communication with parents by the end of treatment. They reported less confidence in their parents' availability and responsiveness, less empathy for their parents' feelings, less feeling confident that their mother or father understood their needs and desires, and less feeling that their mother or father was sensitive and responsive to their emotional states and helpful with concerns.
Explanation of the mixed findings
How can these mixed findings be explained? Several explanations are possible. First, the program's impact on adolescents' attachment relationships may have been mixed, with some elements of those relationships improving and other elements worsening. Perhaps these attachment relationships developed insecure attachment dynamics due to the adolescents' placement in involuntary care, which may have resulted in an experience of rejection from their parents. Perhaps the emotional distance created by the 7-week separation affected the emotional bond between adolescents and parents.
A second possibility is that the negatively affected attachment relationships stem from the entire out-of-home placement. Research shows that adolescents in out-of-home care often face more challenging relationships with parents. This suggests that these programs should target interventions to support those elements of attachment relationships that are adversely affected by out-of-home placement. Targeted interventions might include additional written family therapy assignments designed to improve communication with mother, build trust with father through sharing, or on-site family therapy exercises with adolescent-parent pairs.
