Attachment Pattern and Self-conscious Emotion of Adolescents with Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms

Description

Page: 39-43

Debalina Das¹, Priya Saxena², and B. Surchandra Sharma³ (Department of Clinical Psychology, Ranchi-institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand¹ and Department of Clinical Psychology, Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam²,³)

Self-conscious emotions are those secondary emotions that develop at the time of the adolescent period and help the individual to identify themselves with their ‘sense of self’ as well as with others in the community. But the adolescents with internalizing or externalising symptoms have difficulty experiencing and expressing ‘moral emotions’, which are also important to adhere values, and principal of society. Hence, the role of the attachment figure becomes the focus of the study of emotions and psychopathology. This present study examines how adolescents’ attachment patterns to their parents influence their secondary emotions/self-conscious emotions. This study utilized quantitative research methodology with a descriptive cross-sectional research design. Participants (n=10) with each group internalising symptoms, externalising symptoms, and, non-clinical participants were taken respectively. A Socio-demographic data sheet, Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), The Self-conscious Affect Adolescent (TOSCA-A), and Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) were used in this study. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and inter-correlation were used to analyse the data. Three groups were comparable in age. Males were found to be over-represented in the externalising group, whereas females were over-represented in the internalising and non-clinical groups. There were noticeable differences in the family type, self-conscious emotion, and attachment style. Conclusions: Among the most effective indicators of psychopathology are self-conscious emotion and attachment style. Early detection would be beneficial for both their behavior change and the course of treatment.