AUTHOR=Lockhart Ginger , Phillips Samantha , Bolland Anneliese , Delgado Melissa , Tietjen Juliet , Bolland John 

TITLE=Prospective Relations among Low-Income African American Adolescents’ Maternal Attachment Security, Self-Worth, and Risk Behaviors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00033

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00033

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>This study examined prospective mediating relations among mother-adolescent attachment security, self-worth, and risk behaviors, including substance use and violence, across ages 13–17 in a sample of 901 low-income African American adolescents. Path analyses revealed that self-worth was a significant mediator between attachment security and risk behaviors, such that earlier attachment security predicted self-worth 1 year later, which in turn, predicted substance use, weapon carrying, and fighting in the 3rd year. Implications for the role of the secure base concept within the context of urban poverty are discussed.</p>