Thesis Literature Review Sample

TheRelationshipBetweenAttachmentand AdolescentDepression LiteratureReview Depressionisaconditionthataffectsmorethan25%ofadolescents.Itisatypeofdisorderwhich disturbstheirfocusand mood,causing a lossofpleasureandinterestindoingactivitiesthattheyaresupposedtoenjoy,makingthem quiteirritable.Differentthingsarethoughtasrelatedwiththefeelingofdepressionamongadolescents.Amongthoseexamplesareafailuretoidentifyasanindividual,insecurerelationshipsandattachments,negativerepresentations,etc.(Milke&Lawner,2003;Olsen,Northen,Arphel,&Knorr,2001).In thisthesis,therolethatattachmentplaysamong adolescentsexperiencingdepressionwillbeinvestigated.Itisbeinghypothesizedthatadolescentswhoareattachedinsecurely,eitheravoidantorambivalent,hasthetendencytodisplayahigherlevelofsymptomsthataredepressionrelated,aswellasbehaviorscomparedtoadolescentsthatareattachedsecurely. InaresearcharticlepresentedbySeltzer(1998),twoquestionssurfacedduringthestudy.Thesequestionswereselectedtoserveasaguide.First,wouldthoseintheagegroupof18to21correspondinqualityandfrequencytodifferentattachmentpatternsthatarebeingreportedbyotherprofessionalresearchers? Second,would characteristics and personalities ofsecureadolescentattachmentsberelatedwithpersonalitycharacteristicsofchildandinfantstudies?Thefocusoftheinvestigationwasonthelatefemaleadolescentpatterns,particularlymaternal,withtheuseofasemi-structuredinterview.Ithasbeenhypothesizedthatfemaleswhoaresecurelyattachedwilloftenhaveastrongpositiveidentification,especiallytowardstheirmother,lowerscoresondepressionandhigherratingsofself-esteem.

Thesampleoriginallyconsistedof1001random studentsofpsychologyatacollege.However,afterperformingsomeproceduresinscreening,aswellastheimportancetohaveequalnumbersacrossallcategoriesofattachment.Asaresult,thenumberwasreducedto28inthestudy. Theresultsusedinthisstudysupportedthemainhypothesisthatrelativepercentagesofattachmentsinvolved,including avoidant,ambivalentandsecure,would correspond to the reported data by the infantstudies(Stephenson,2003).The results also showed thatthere was a relativedifferenceinpersonalitycharacteristicsinbetweentheambivalentandsecuregroups.Femalesthatareambivalentlyattachedweremoredepressed,andhave been reported to have lowerrates ofself-esteem compared toadolescentswhoaresecurelyattached(Faulkner,2002).Ontheotherhand,theavoidantattachmentgroupwasalsointhemiddleofbothambivalentandsecuregroupsinrelationtoself-esteem anddepression,thoughtheywerenotsignificantlydifferentfrom eitherofthegroups.Ithasalsobeenreportedthatfemaleadolescentswhoaresecurelyattachedhavearelativelymorepositiveandmaternalidentificationcomparedtothosewhoareambivalentlyattached,andavoidantfemaleadolescentswhoarecategorizedinthemiddle(Salazar,2010). Allofthese results are combined togetherto give confirmation to thehypothesisthatpersonalityandcharacteristicssuchasinterpersonalskills,positiveaffect,andself-esteem correlatestochildandinfantpersonalitycharacteristics ofthose undersecure attachments (Singh,1999).Onelimitationtothisstudy,however,isthattheresultsarenotlongitudinal.Thismeansthatitrestson thecurrentsituation ratherthan atthestartofchildhood,followingthelivesofthefemalesastheyweredeveloping.Anotherstudylimitationisthatthesampleonlyconsistedofallfemaleparticipants.Thesecorrelationsmaybesignificantlydifferentifboyswereinvolved(Peters,2007).

Next,thetopiconattachmentrelatedtoadolescentdepressionisalsoaddresseddependingonsocialnetworks.InastudybyOwneretal.(2001),twoquestionssurfaced.First,doadolescentssufferingfrom depressionhavemorelimitedorinsufficientsocialnetwork?Second,dotheyviewemotionalstatusoftheirfamilyasnegative?Thegoalofthisstudyistofurtherinvestigateonthe socialnetworks involving depressed adolescents,with and withoutconductdisorder,comparingtheresultswithsocialnetworksofthecontrolgroup. Theresultsshowthatanadolescentdealingwithmajordepressiondoesnotsignificantlydifferfrom thecontrols.Therearenodeficienciesinattachment,socialinteractionsaswellasfamilyclimate.Thisfindingisnotexplainedeasilyotherthantheindividualswhoarelessaffectedbydepressivethinking.Also,adolescentswhoaredealingwithdysthymia,ordoubledepressionfeelthattheirmaincaregiverisavailable,thoughinadequateattimes(Matthews,2001).Theseresultsgiveconfirmationtothehypothesisthatadolescentswhoaredepressedusuallyhavealimited,insufficientsocialnetwork,andthattheyusuallyview theconditionsoftheirfamilyasnegative.Parentshad noinvolvementinthesestudies.Anotherobviouslimitationisthatthecontrolswereselectedfrom theentiregroupafterscreeningashavingascoreundermoderatedepression.Thecontrolsmayalsonotbecompletelyfreefromdepression. References Faulker,T.(2002).Attachmenttheoryintheframeworkofunderstandingseverepsychopathologyinadolescents.Afollow-upstudy.JournalofClinicalPsychology,34(2),155,163. Matthews,H.A.(2001).Depressionpredictorsamongfemaleadolescents.AdolescenceToday,38,209-234. Milke,A.E.,&Lawner,Y.T.(2003).Self-reportedstyleofattachment,depressionandanxietysymptomsamongyoungadolescents.IndividualandPersonalityDifferences,30(2),809-810. Olsen,H.,Northern,P.,Arphel,H.A,&.Knorr,E.R.(2001).Adolescentdepression:Familyclimateandsocialnetwork–acontrolstudy.JournalofPsychiatryPsychologyandAlliedDisciplines,40(2),344-356. Owner,H.,Peters,Q.,Potter,A.,Poppins,H.,&Granger,A.(2001).Primaryattachmentamongfemaleadolescents:Connectionwithself-esteem,depressionandmaternalidentification.BiologicalandInterpersonalProcessesinPsychiatry,52,21-22. Peters,Z.(2007).Depressionamongadolescents–theself-centereddepression.ThePsychologyJournal,34(3)-67-69. Salazar,T.(2010).Thecorrelationbetweendepressionandexternalfactorsamongadolescents,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).Reportonattachmentquality,self-reportedattachmentstyle,andsymptomsofdepressionandanxietyonyoungeradolescentsinthemoderngeneration.IndividualandPersonalityPsychologyJournal,5(2),677-688.