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Adolescence
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Early Adolescent Attachment to Parents, Emotional Problems, and

Teacher-Academic Worries About the Middle School Transition
Stphane Duchesne, Catherine F. Ratelle, Sarah-Caroline Poitras and Evelyne
Drouin
The Journal of Early Adolescence 2009 29: 743 originally published online 13
January 2009
DOI: 10.1177/0272431608325502
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Early Adolescent
Attachment to Parents,
Emotional Problems,
and Teacher-Academic
Worries About the
Middle School Transition

Journal of Early Adolescence

Volume 29 Number 5
October 2009 743-766
2009 Sage Publications
10.1177/0272431608325502
http://jea.sagepub.com
hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com

Stphane Duchesne
Catherine F. Ratelle
Sarah-Caroline Poitras
Evelyne Drouin
Laval University, Qubec City, Canada

This study examines how attachment to mother and father predicts worries about
academic demands and relationships with teachers generated by the transition
from elementary to middle school through its contribution to adolescents emotional problems (depression and anxiety). The study sample includes 626 young
adolescents (289 boys and 337 girls) in sixth grade who completed the Security
Scale to assess security of attachment to their mothers and fathers. The results of
analyses based on structural equation modeling showed that attachment to
mother predicts adolescents teacher-academic worries about the middle school
transition through anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in light of the
literature on attachment theory, emotional problems during adolescence, and the
context of the middle school transition.
Keywords:attachment; anxiety; depression; teacher-academic worries;
middle school transition

t is widely recognized that the transition to middle school is a turning

point in the academic path of young adolescents (Barber & Olsen, 2004;
Duchesne, Larose, Guay, Vitaro, & Tremblay, 2005; Isakson & Jarvis, 1999;
Wigfield, Eccles, Mac Iver, Reuman, & Midlgey, 1991). Most adolescents
will have to deal with new learning environment, which often involves
higher academic demands and a redefinition of interpersonal relationships
743

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744 Journal of Early Adolescence

with peers and a greater number of teachers who are, at times, less available
than elementary school teachers (Eccles, 2004; Roeser & Eccles, 1998;
Seidman, Allen, Aber, Mitchell, & Feindman, 1994; Steinberg, 2005). These
upcoming changes generate worries among many adolescents (Berndt &
Mekos, 1995; Elias, Gara, & Ubriaco, 1985; Wenz-Gross, Siperstein, Untch,
& Widaman, 1997). Because school plays a central role in their lives (Barrett
& Heubeck, 2000; Karr & Johnson, 1991), this imminent transition could be
the focal point of many of these worries. Here, worries about the middle
school transition refer to anticipation about changes in academic expectations and teacher relationships. These two characteristics of the learning
environment are known to play a determining role in motivation, feeling of
self-efficacy, and academic success of young adolescents (Anderman,
Maehr, & Midgley, 1999; Midgley, Middleton, Gheen, & Kumar, 2002).
A growing number of studies have indicated that school worries tend to be
correlated with emotional problems during the adolescent period (Robinson,
Garber, & Hilsman, 1995; Rudolph, Lambert, Clark, & Kurlakowsky, 2001;
Smith Carter, Garber, Ciesla, & Cole, 2006; Wenz-Gross et al., 1997). These
problems generally fall into two broad categories of disorders or subsyndromal disorders: anxiety (e.g., fearfulness, avoidance behavior, physiological
symptoms) and depression (e.g., sadness, loss of pleasure, indecisiveness,
worthlessness). Although the directionality of the link between emotional
problems and school worries has not been clearly established, their consequences for the academic performance and mental health of young adolescents are nevertheless well documented (Duchesne et al., 2005; Ialongo,
Edelsohn, Werthamer-Larsson, Crockett, & Kellam, 1995; Rudolph et al.,
2001; Wenz-Gross et al., 1997). Thus, attention should be focused on identifying the factors likely to lessen any form of emotional problems that could
compromise adolescents capacity to adjust to major changes such as the
transition to middle school. Although there has recently been more research
on the cause of adolescents emotional problems (Graber, 2004; Kendall,
Hedtke, & Aschenbrand, 2006), to date, little effort has been made to investigate the factors protecting adolescents against school worries.
The present study investigates the links between attachment security to
mother and father and the development of school worries related to the
transition to middle school and whether this relationship is mediated
through adolescents emotional problems (i.e., anxiety and depression).
Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) has widely inspired research on emotions and their regulation during life changes (Thompson, 1999). The security of attachment to parents could provide an important emotional resource
against the emotional distress and anxious thoughts associated with the
middle school transition (Papini & Roggman, 1992).

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 745

Middle School Worries and Adjustment

Worries usually refer to a chain of negative and relatively uncontrollable
thoughts and images (Borkovec, Robinson, Pruzinsky, & Depree, 1983).
Apprehension about a future negative consequence is often the cause of these
intrusive cognitions (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Although
worrying about concrete situations or situations that are most likely to occur
indicates a desire to adjust, this is rarely the case when such worries concern
remotely possible or purely hypothetical situations (Borkovec et al., 1983).
These thoughts can then become disproportionate to the real threat represented by the dreaded situations (American Psychiatric Association, 2000;
Craske, Barlow, & OLeary, 1992).
For young adolescents starting middle school, worries are generally
related to academic performance and relations with others, such as teachers
(Berndt & Mekos, 1995; Elias et al., 1985; Wenz-Gross et al., 1997). These
seem to be two legitimate spheres of worries given that in the academic environment at the start of middle school, more emphasis is put on academic
accomplishment, teacher-student relationships are less personal, and teachers
enforce stricter discipline than in elementary school (Eccles et al., 1993). For
some adolescents, these worries are quite intense and significantly disrupt
their ability to adjust. Thus, students who worry about not being able to succeed in middle school or to maintain harmonious relations with their teachers
are more likely to have low self-concept and to show symptoms of anxiety
and depression (e.g., Smith Carter et al., 2006; Wenz-Gross et al., 1997).
Teacher-academic worries about the transition to middle school can
detract from the adjustment of young adolescents, thus raising questions
about the risk and protection factors associated with these worries. Because
the emotional, academic, and social functioning of children and adolescents
is partly explained by external factors such as parental behavior (Bowlby,
1969; Grolnick, 2003; Moss & St-Laurent, 2001), it is plausible that attachment security to parents can be critical in the genesis of negative emotions
associated with the upcoming transition to middle school.

Parent-Adolescent Attachment and Emotional Problems:

Theoretical Perspective and Empirical Evidence
The idea that the earliest caregiver-child relationships provide the prototype
for childrens later expression and regulation of emotions plays a key role in
attachment theory (Sroufe & Waters, 1977). One of the primary suggestions
of this theory is that the capacity of the caregiver (often the parent) to properly

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746 Journal of Early Adolescence

grasp, interpret, and respond to the childs emotions within a short time period
contributes to the latters emotional security and acquired ability to use selfregulating behaviors to cope with distress, anxiety, and fear (Ainsworth,
Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Kopp, 1989). Over time, parental responses
appear to be encoded by the child as internal working models of self (I feel
loved) and others (I can trust the adults around me), which appear to influence his or her capacity to effectively cope with his or her emotions during
distressful situations. These models are secure when the child feels confident
in the relationship and can anticipate the parents psychological availability
and capacity to respond and when the parent sends the child a positive image
of himself or herself. Such models predispose the child to freely express his or
her emotions and explore his or her environment and thus to feel able to overcome challenges within that environment (Bowlby, 1988; Bretherton &
Munholland, 1999). Alternatively, insecure models are constructed when the
child feels uneasy in the relationship, perceives himself or herself negatively
through parental behaviors and anticipates rejection or incoherent responses
from the parent. This child may deduce that his or her emotions cannot be
shared with other people and that it is better for him or her to minimize the
importance of these emotions or attempt to hide them (Cassidy, 1994).
Studies that have examined attachment beyond early childhood have supported the validity of this theory, especially regarding emotions in early
adolescence. For example, Buist, Dekovic, Meeus, and van Aken (2004) have
shown that adolescents who report a higher quality of attachment to parents
show fewer emotional problems (anxiety, depression, and withdrawal) a year
later. Similarly, Papini and Roggman (1992) found that parental attachment
was negatively associated with adolescent feelings of depression and anxiety
during the transition to junior high school. In related work, Nada-Raja,
McGee, and Stanton (1992) showed that secure parental attachment among
15-year-old adolescents was linked to lower incidence of mental disorders
such as anxiety and depression. Essau (2004) also found that perceived level
of attachment to parents was significantly higher among nondepressed
adolescents than among adolescents with symptoms of depression. Finally, in
their recent review of literature, Bgels and Brechman-Toussaint (2006)
reported that secure attachment to parents was related to low levels of
anxious symptoms among both children and adolescents.
Despite these findings, there has not been much research on the potential
contribution of a secure parent-child attachment relationship on one of the
main sources of worry during the adolescent periodthe middle school transition (Wenz-Gross et al., 1997). In the present study, attachment security
refers to adolescents perceptions that their parent is responsive, available,

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 747

and open to communication and a reliable source of help in times of stress

(Kerns, Aspelmeier, Gentzler, & Grabill, 2001; Kerns, Klepac, & Cole,
1996). Attachment security to parents could help to reduce anxiety as adolescents are about to enter a more complex school environment in terms of
teacher expectations, curriculum characteristics, and teacher-student interactions (Papini & Roggman, 1992; Steinberg, 2005). Adolescents who report a
secure attachment to their parents may therefore recognize and express their
worries more freely and turn to the latter for emotional support (Cook, 2000;
Kobak & Sceery, 1988). The fact that these adolescents can rely on their
parents to help them regulate their discomfort created by stressful situations
might lead them to welcome the changes that occur during the transition to
middle school as stimulating challenges. Conversely, adolescents who report
insecure or weak attachment relationships to their mother and father might
see this transition as less desirable. Consequently, the inability or impossibility to turn to parents for emotional support might increase adolescents stress
levels, causing them to develop teacher-academic worries.

Mediation Hypothesis
Adolescents emotional problems might conceivably serve as a mediational
influence in the association between attachment and teacher-academic
worries about the middle school transition. On the one hand, the studies
cited above have attempted to establish a relation between the quality of
attachment relationships with parents and the development of emotional
problems during adolescence. On the other hand, another line of research
supports association between emotional problems and school worries or
related emotions (Compas, Grant, & Ey, 1994; Garber & Hilsman, 1992;
Heubeck & OSullivan, 1998; Nolan-Hoeksema, Girgus, & Seligman,
1992; Siddique & DArcy, 1984; Smith Carter et al., 2006; Wenz-Gross
et al., 1997). For instance, Smith Carter and colleagues (2006) showed that
students emotional problems predicted higher levels of hassles within the
school environment a year later. Another study conducted by Wenz-Gross et
al. (1997) indicated that high levels of school-related stress among young
adolescents were related to greater feelings of depression. A similar result
was reported by Siddique and DArcy (1984) who showed that the perception of school-related stress is associated with various measures of psychological distress, including anxiety. Heubeck and OSullivan (1998) also
found that school hassles were related to adolescents emotional problems.
In line with attachment theory, parental behaviors specifically related
to attachment could be associated with worries about the academic and

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748 Journal of Early Adolescence

interpersonal demands of middle school, based on their adolescents

development of or inhibitions related to anxiety and depression. From this
perspective, adolescents emotional problems could be viewed as causal
antecedents of teacher-academic worries. Thus, parents who are open to
communication, physically available, and responsive provide a relational
context in which children can develop secure internal working models of
attachment that may be expressed through a positive sense of self, a feeling
of security, and help-seeking behaviors (e.g., Duchesne & Larose, 2007;
Larose, Bernier, Soucy, & Duchesne, 1999). These cognitive and behavioral resources can facilitate the regulation of negative emotions, thereby
decreasing anxious (e.g., fearfulness, frequent need to be reassured) and
depressive (e.g., sadness, loss of pleasure, worthlessness) symptoms (Bgels
and Brechman-Toussaint, 2006; Papini & Roggman, 1992; Rudolph, Flynn,
& Abaied, 2008). Given that these symptoms are generally accompanied by
perceptive and cognitive deficits related to self, others, and the future (Beck,
Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Rudolph, Hammen, & Daley, 2006; Vasey,
1993), adolescents who have learned to regulate their emotions, through contacts with reassuring parents, would be probably less likely to anticipate the
worst in the face of danger. These adolescents may therefore be better prepared to assess the expected changes related to the middle school transition
in an objective and optimistic manner and to perceive this transition as more
desirable than stressful.

The Present Study

This study addresses the following question: Does the presence of adolescents emotional problems mediate the association between attachment
to mother and father and teacher-academic worries about the middle school
transition? More specifically, attachment security to parents is expected to
predict decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression, which, in turn, are
expected to predict fewer worries about the middle school transition. The
examination of these constructs is a novel feature of this study. Analyses
based on structural equations (Bentler, 1990; Kline, 2005) are used to test
mediation hypothesis.
Another distinctive feature of this study involved examining the differential contribution of the father and mother on the link among parental attachment, emotional problems, and teacher-academic worries about middle
school. Adolescents attachment security to their mothers could differ from
that to their fathers, in addition to bringing a unique and independent contribution to the explanation of their emotional problems and teacher-academic

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 749

worries. To this end, some researchers suggested that attachment security is

specific to individual relationships and that adolescents development,
including attachment security, may be a result of the contribution of diverse
significant caregivers (Shaver, Collins, & Clark, 1996). During infancy, this
issue is not generally addressed because of the predominance of the motherinfant relationship in the study of attachment. However, during adolescence,
there has been ample time for other significant attachment figures, especially
the fathers, to impact the development of adolescents. This idea is supported
by a number of studies that have shown how father-adolescent security of
attachment explains a significant portion of the variance in adolescents
behavioral problems at school (Williams & Kelly, 2005) and how attachment
to fathers, and not to mothers, is linked with their style of stress management
in late adolescence (Grossmann, Grossmann, & Zimmermann, 1999).
Moreover, the moderating effect of the adolescents gender will be taken
into account. Studies have reported differences between boys and girls with
regard to some dimensions relating to their emotional and psychological
problems in adolescence. For example, it seems that girls are more concerned than boys about the academic demands of middle school (Berndt &
Mekos, 1995) and personal inadequacy (see Rudolph et al., 2006). In addition, girls show higher rates of emotional problems (i.e., anxiety and
depressive affect) than boys during this developmental period (Graber,
2004; Kendall et al., 2006; Zahn-Waxler, Klimes-Dougan, & Slattery,
2000). The parallel occurrence of puberty and the middle school transition
could be the cause of girls greater vulnerability to emotional problems
(Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994). Thus, the strength of associations
among attachment to parents, emotional problems, and teacher-academic
worries may be greater for girls than for boys.
Last, the final question relates to the role of family structure in the link
among parental attachment, emotional problems, and worries about middle
school. Previous studies have demonstrated that young people from singleparent or blended families are more likely to have lower security of attachment (Nair & Murray, 2005), to show signs of anxiety (Last, Perrin, Hersen,
& Kazdin, 1992; Pagani, Boulerice, Tremblay, & Vitaro, 1997), and to have
academic problems (Abd-El-Fattah, 2006; Demo & Acock, 1996; Duchesne
et al., 2005) than those from intact families. A decrease in feelings of academic competence during the middle school transition was also documented among adolescents who had only one parent as a source of social
support (Cantin & Boivin, 2005). The relation between family structure and
adolescents adjustment problems could nevertheless be explained by the
lack of social support experienced by broken families, which is often

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750 Journal of Early Adolescence

accompanied by poverty, isolation, stress, and negative parenting (Evans,

2004; Hashima & Amato, 1994; Kotchick, Dorsey, & Heller, 2005; Nair &
Murray, 2005; Seitz, Rosenbaum, & Apfel, 1985; Taylor, Casten, &
Flickinger, 1993). In the present study, family structure will be used as a
covariate to rule out the possibility that it would explain the relation among
attachment to parents, emotional problems, and teacher-academic worries.

Method
Participants and Procedure
Of a sample of 732 French-speaking adolescents who agreed to participate
in the study, 636 of them (289 boys and 337 girls) returned their duly completed questionnaires. This constitutes a 86.89% response rate. The majority
of these participants were born in the province of Quebec (more than 92%),
and their mean age was 11.8 years (SD = 0.48). Nearly 70% of them lived with
both biological parents, whereas the others lived in different family configurations (e.g., single-parent families, blended families, foster families). The sample was selected randomly based on a list provided by the Quebec Ministry of
Education. The strategy involved making up a sample that was representative
of the urban and rural communities located throughout Quebec. Research
assistants contacted each adolescent by telephone. Parental consent was
needed for the adolescents to participate in the study. Once parental authorization was obtained, a questionnaire was mailed to each adolescent. Data were
collected during the spring that preceded their entry into middle school. All
participants received cinema vouchers for their participation.

Measures
Attachment to parents. Attachment to mother and father was measured
using the Security Scale (Kerns et al., 1996). This self-reported instrument
assesses adolescents perceived security in their relationship with each parent. The 15 items of the instrument are grouped into three dimensions: (a)
the extent to which the adolescent perceives that his or her mother or father
is available and responsive (i.e., the extent to which the adolescent worries
that his or her parents will not be present when he or she needs them); (b)
the adolescents tendency to seek help from his or her mother or father in
times of stress (i.e., the extent to which the adolescent turns to his or her
parent when in distress); and (c) the adolescents perceptions concerning
the ease with which he or she communicates with his or her mother or

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 751

father (i.e., the extent to which the adolescent likes to tell his or her parents
what he or she is thinking or feeling). Items were answered on a
4-point scale ranging from 1 (sort of true) to 4 (really true). Adolescents
read the statement (e.g., Some kids do not really like telling their [mom/
dad] what they are thinking or feeling BUT Other kids do like telling their
[mom/dad] what they are thinking or feeling) and indicated to what extent
the statement was true for them. As recommended by Kerns et al. (1996),
parental scores were obtained by summing items for the mother and for the
father separately. The reliability and validity of the Security Scale are well
documented (Kerns et al., 1996). In the current study, the alpha coefficients
were .74 for attachment to mother and .78 for attachment to father.
Teacher-academic worries about the middle school transition.
Adolescents worries about the upcoming transition to middle school were
measured using a scale based on the measures developed and validated by
Berndt and Mekos (1995) and Wenz-Gross et al. (1997). This nine-item
scale contains two dimensions: worries about (a) academic demands
(5 items; e.g., I am worried that the work I will have to do in middle school
will be too difficult; I am worried about not getting good results in middle
school) and (b) relationships with teachers (4 items; e.g., I am worried
that teachers will not be available; I am worried that teachers will not be
interested enough in me). Students indicated, on a 5-point scale
(1 = does not correspond at all to what I think, 5 = corresponds exactly to
what I think), the extent to which each item reflected their feelings. In the
present study, the Cronbachs alpha was .85 for the academic demands
score and .75 for the relationships with teachers score.
Anxiety. The adolescents anxiety was measured using the Worries and
Oversensitivity subscale derived from the French version of the Revised
Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale (Turgeon & Chartrand, 2003). This subscale contains 12 items (e.g., I worry about what my parents will say to
me; I worry about many things). Participants had to circle yes or no,
indicating whether the statement reflected their own situation. The reliability of this subscale has been demonstrated through a coefficient of internal
consistency of .81 and a coefficient of test-retest reliability (after 6 months)
of .61 (Turgeon & Chartrand, 2003). In this study, the coefficient of internal
consistency for this subscale was .73.
Depression. The adolescents depressive symptoms were measured
using a short version of the Children Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs,

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752 Journal of Early Adolescence

1992). This measure contains five items that assess the intensity of affective and cognitive symptoms of depression. To describe their own situation, students circled one of the three choices presented in the examples
(e.g., I sometimes feel sadI very often feel sadI always feel sad).
The French version of the CDI has demonstrated adequate reliability
(Saint-Laurent, 1990). In this study, the coefficient of internal consistency
was .69.

Results
The results are presented in three sections. The first section sets out the
results of a multivariate analysis of variance examining gender differences
in the study variables. The second section presents correlations among
variables of the model. Finally, the third section addresses the studys goal,
which is to test a mediation model linking attachment to parents, adolescents emotional problems, and the emergence of teacher-academic worries
about the middle school transition.

Gender Differences in Attachment,

Emotional Problems, and Teacher-Academic Worries
The result of the multivariate analysis of variance reveals that boys and
girls differed with regard to a number of variables tested in the mediation
model (Wilks = 7.73, df = 6, 574, p < .001). Univariate tests indicate
effects for attachment to mother, F(1, 579) = 4.06, p < .05, 2 = .01, and to
father, F(1, 579) = 4.05, p < .05, 2 = .01, for the anxiety index, F(1, 579) =
19.09, p < .001, 2 = .03, and for worries about academic demands,
F(1, 579) = 20.63, p < .001, 2 = .03, and relationships with teachers in
middle school, F(1, 579) = 3.97, p < .05, 2= .01. Thus, girls perceived
more
attachment security to their mothers (X = 3.34) than did the boys

(X = 3.26). However, boys

perceived more attachment security to their

fathers than did the girls (X = 3.07 and 2.98, respectively).The results also
show that the girls saw themselves as more anxious X = 17.09) and
expressed
more worries about their capacity to meet academic demands

(X = 3.28) and to establish harmonious relationships with teachers

(X = 2.53) than did the boys (X = 15.99, 2.84, and 2.36, respectively). No
significant effect was detected at p < .05 regarding symptoms of depression.
On the whole, these differences were generally quite small.

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 753

Correlations Among Variables of the Model

Bivariate correlations among attachment to mother and father, emotional
problems (anxiety and depression), and teacher-academic worries about
middle school are presented in Table 1. These correlations are not corrected
for measurement error. Results indicate that all the variables were significantly linked with each other. Overall, these relations ranged from low
(attachment to mother and worries about academic demands; r = .15, p <
.001) to high (academic demands and relationships with teachers; r = .71,
p < .001).
Correlations between latent constructs based on the confirmatory factor
analysis model were also performed. Results of this analysis yielded a significant chi-square (p < .001) and satisfactory fit indices: 2(44) = 142.28;
non-normed fit index [NNFI] = .94, comparative fit index [CFI] = .96, root
mean square of error of appreciation [RMSEA] = .04, standardized root mean
squared residual [SRMR] = .06). The magnitude of these correlations ranged
from low to high (see Table 2). Moreover, the sizes of these correlations were
systematically higher than the corresponding bivariate correlations.

Analysis of Mediation Model

The mediation model was tested using structural equation modeling
(Kline, 2005). The model includes five latent variables (maternal attachment, paternal attachment, anxiety, depression, and teacher-academic
worries) and one control variable (family structure). It was tested with
standardized coefficients obtained from the maximum likelihood estimation. Goodness-of-fit criteria were established by comparing the reproduced covariance matrix to the observed covariance matrix. Parameters
were structured so as to estimate each of the assessed variables on the
basis of hypothetically latent factors. Each of these factors was then estimated as a function of the factor that it hypothetically predicted. The
other loadings of the model were fixed at 0. Items were averaged to create
two or three indicators per latent factor. This procedure reduces the
number of indicators per factor, resulting in a more valid and reliable
assessment of indicators (Marsh & Yeung, 1997). Finally, because the
chi-square procedure is sensitive to sample size (Kline, 2005) and because
models involving several variables tend to yield high chi-square values,
the NNFI, CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR were used as indices of fit. The
NNFI and CFI, which range from 0 to 1, are perceived as acceptable at
.90 (Kline, 2005).

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754 Journal of Early Adolescence

Table 1
Bivariate Correlations, Means and Standard Deviations
1
1. Attachment
to mothera
2. Attachment
to fathera
3. Anxietyb
4. Depressionc
5. Worries
about academic
performanced
6. Worries about
relationships
with teachersd

.48***

Mean (SD)
3.30 (.48)

3.03 (.61)

.21*** .27***
.30*** .33***
.15*** .20***

.45***
.50***

.31***

.20*** .20***

.44***

.31***

.71***

16.55 (2.90)
6.59 (1.75)
3.08 (1.18)

2.45 (1.02)

a. This scale is scored on a 4-point scale.

b. Scores on this measure vary from 12 to 24.
c. Scores on this measure vary from 4 to 15.
d. This scale is scored on a 5-point scale.
***p < .001.

Table 2
Correlations Among Latent Constructs

1. Attachment to mother
2. Attachment to father
3. Anxiety
4. Depression
5. Teacher-academic worries

.67***
.31***
.34***
.49***
.49***
.69***
.24***
.25***
.65***
.49***

Note: 1. Correlations are based on the confirmatory factor analysis model.

*** p < .001.

The proposed model was tested beforehand without estimating mediation

effects (i.e., direct model), where attachment to mother and father predicted
(a) emotional problems (i.e., anxiety and depression) and (b) teacher-academic
worries. Results of the direct model yielded a significant chi-square, 2(53)
= 316.24, p < .001, and the NNFI (.84) and the CFI (.89) were lower than
the .90 cutoff value. The RMSEA (.09) and the SRMR (.08) were relatively
satisfactory. The significant standardized path coefficients of this model are
presented in Figure 1. For the sake of clarity, paths for family structure are

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 755

Figure 1
Results for the Direct-Effect Model
ATTm1 ATTm2 ATTm3
.65

.61

68

.30

Attachment to
mother

Ax1

Ax2

.84

.72

Anxiety
2
R = .18

.31
.42
.61

.68

Middle school
Worries
2

R = .13

.15

.89

.80

ACAD

TEACH

ns

Attachment to
father
.71

ATTf1

.76

ATTf2

Depression
R2= .33

.17

.87

.71

ATTf3

Dp1

.58

Dp2

not shown in this figure. The results reveal that the attachment to mother
negatively predicted teacher-academic worries ( = .31, p < .01), whereas
there was no significant association between attachment to father and
teacher-academic worries ( = .01, ns). Furthermore, the results show that
the adolescents symptoms of anxiety and depression were negatively predicted by the level of attachment security to their mothers and their fathers
(all ps < .05).
A mediation model was subsequently tested in which the indirect links
from emotional problems to teacher-academic worries were added. The fit
indices indicate that the mediation model fits data well, 2(51) = 161.47,
p < .001; NNFI = .93; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .06; SRMR = .04. To determine
whether the mediation model was significantly different from the direct
model, a chi-square difference test was performed. A significant difference
was obtained (2 = 154.77, df = 2, p < .001). The Akaike information criterion (AIC) indexes for each of these models indicated that the mediation
model showed the smallest AIC (59.47 vs. 210.24), which suggests that this
model is more adequate (Kline, 2005).
The significant standardized path coefficients of the mediation model
are presented in Figure 2. Paths for family structure are not shown in this
figure. The results show that indicators loaded positively and significantly

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756 Journal of Early Adolescence

on their predicted latent factor (all ps < .001). In addition, the security
perceived by the adolescents in their attachment relationship with their
mothers was positively associated with that perceived with their fathers
(covariance = .67). A significant and positive association was found
between the adolescents feelings of depression and anxiety (covariance =
.64). The results also indicate that the adolescents symptoms of anxiety
were negatively predicted by the level of attachment security to their mothers ( = .17, p < .05) and their fathers ( = .23, p < .01). Moreover,
adolescents attachment security to their mothers ( = .34, p < .01) and
their fathers ( = .26, p < .01) negatively predicted their feelings of depression. With respect to the path from attachment to mother and middle school
worries, no significant association was found. Finally, the presence of anxiety among adolescents positively predicted the development of teacher-academic worries about the upcoming school transition ( = .62, p < .001).
Overall, the results of this model suggest that the adolescents symptoms of
anxiety fully mediated the relation between attachment to mother and
teacher-academic worries.
Furthermore, the examination of the links between family structure and all
the latent factors indicates that this variable was positively associated with
attachment relationships with mother ( = .12, p < .05) and father ( = .23,
p < .01), whereas it was negatively associated with teacher-academic worries
( = .12, p < .01). Thus, adolescents living with both biological parents seem
to perceive attachment relationships with both mother and father as more
secure and show fewer teacher-academic worries about the middle school
transition than their peers from single-parent or blended families.
Last, one of the study goals was to assess whether the proposed mediation model was applicable to both boys and girls. Thus, the moderating role
of gender was tested with the multigroup analysis by comparing the model
in which all parameters are constrained to be equal for boys and girls to the
model in which these parameters are free to vary across gender. Results of
the constrained model revealed a significant chi-square (p < .001), and fit
indices were satisfactory: 2(122) = 231.21; NNFI = .94, CFI = .96,
RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .05. For the free parameter model, the fit indices
also show that the model fits well into the data, 2(102) = 202.36, p < .001;
NNFI = .94, CFI = .96, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .04. The results of a
chi-square difference test showed that both models did not differ significantly for boys and girls (2 = 28.85, df = 20, p = .09), indicating that factor
loadings and the structural paths were invariant across gender.

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 757

Figure 2
Results for the Mediation Model
ATTm1
.65

ATTm2
.62

Ax1

ATTm3

Ax2

.83

.69

.17

Attachment to
mother

.73

Anxiety
2

R = .14

ns

.62

.34
.64

.67

Middle school
Worries
2

R = .44

.23

ns

ns

Attachment to
father
.71

.76

ATTf1

ATTf2

Depression

.88

ACAD

.81

TEACH

.23

R = .29

.87

.76

ATTf3

Dp1

.60

Dp2

Discussion
The results of this study support the hypothesis that manifestations of
emotional problems among adolescents play a mediating role in the link
between attachment to parents and teacher-academic worries about the
middle school transition. More specifically, the results show that attachment security to parents, especially the mother, predict fewer anxiety symptoms among adolescents, which, in turn, lower levels of teacher-academic
worries about the transition to middle school. This mediating relation was
identified as significant after controlling for family structure.
On the one hand, the results replicate the findings of studies that examined
the association between attachment to parents and emotional problems
among adolescents (e.g., Buist et al., 2004; Essau, 2004; Nada-Raja et al.,
1992; Papini & Roggman, 1992). These results suggest that adolescents who
perceive that their parents are available in times of distress and who feel that
they can easily communicate their need for security and comfort to their
mother benefit from close relational experiences, which help them regulate
their emotional states (Bretherton & Munholland, 1999; Cassidy, 1994).
These adolescents, supported by reassuring parents, appear to recognize their
distress more easily and express their emotions (e.g., sadness, fears, worries)

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758 Journal of Early Adolescence

more openly (Bretherton, 1990). They seem to be able to rely on their parents
to be available to comfort them, reassure them, and help them find a solution
to a problem which must be solved. The feeling of security stemming from
the parents caring and supportive behaviors thus appears to protect adolescents from the harmful effects associated with unresolved negative emotions.
However, this feeling of security seems to be important in the relationship
with their mother, in particular. Interpretation of this last finding should be
made with caution, keeping in mind the issue of covariance between attachment to mother and attachment to father, especially given the presence of a
direct relation between attachment to father and teacher-academic worries
(see Table 2 for correlations between latent constructs).
The results also show that anxious adolescents tend to develop teacheracademic worries about the middle school transition. Some of the worries
of anxious adolescents may be because of the establishment of negative
cognitive schemas associated with their anxious state (Beck et al., 1979;
Vasey, 1993). These internal structures seem to condition the way in which
individuals view themselves (I am a worthless person) and process social
information (other people cannot do anything for me). In a stressful situation, these negative cognitive schemas appear to operate and produce
distortions involving irrational, erroneous, and self-defeating thoughts
(Beck et al., 1979). It is thus plausible that as a potentially stressful event
such as the middle school transition draws near, these thought distortion
processes are set in motion and influence the way in which adolescents
anticipate upcoming changes. They might then develop excessive worries
about their capacity to meet the academic demands of middle school and to
establish harmonious relationships with their new teachers. These thoughts
seem to be particularly prevalent among adolescents from insecure families
because they do not have the affective conditions (e.g., parental availability,
responsitivity, and emotional support) needed to regulate their emotions.
Contrary to expectations, the results of this study indicate that depressive
symptoms, when considered together with the presence of anxiety, are not
associated with the development of teacher-academic worries about the middle school transition. The relatively high covariance between these variables
may have reduced the contribution of depression as a mediator in the link
between attachment experiences and teacher-academic worries. However, the
hypothesis that depression can play a small role in the equation linking attachment, anxiety, and teacher-academic worries cannot be entirely ruled out.
Given that anxiety and depression have a high comorbidity ratio and a shared
etiology (Graber, 2004; Kendall et al., 2006; Rudolph et al., 2006), the
manifestations of depressive symptoms might feed into the cognitive

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 759

distress experienced by more anxious adolescents (rumination, anxious

thoughts, excessive worries, etc.). These young people are thus more vulnerable and more likely to anticipate entering middle school as a stressful event.
The results of descriptive analyses showed that girls perceived more
attachment security to their mothers and showed more anxiety and teacheracademic worries than did boys, who themselves perceived their relationships with their father as more secure than girls. Although these results
concur with those reported in other studies (e.g., Berndt & Mekos, 1995;
Buist, Dekovic, Meeus, & van Aken, 2002; Duchesne & Larose, 2007), there
was no evidence that adolescents gender had a moderating effect on the
relations among parental attachment, internalizing behaviors, and teacheracademic worries about the middle school transition. Thus, the mediation
model tested in this study applied in the same way to both genders.
Finally, the results also revealed that living in an intact family is positively
associated with perceived security in the adolescents relationships with their
mothers and fathers and negatively associated with the development of worries about entry into middle school. Some studies have established a link
between single parenthood and attachment security (Nair & Murray, 2005),
mental health problems, or academic problems among adolescents (AbdEl-Fattah, 2006; Duchesne et al., 2005; Last et al., 1992). Other studies have
also pointed out that single parents are more likely to be faced with stress, lack
of social support, and poverty and to adopt erratic parental practices (e.g.,
Evans, 2004; Hashima & Amato, 1994; Kotchick et al., 2005). Thus, it may be
that adolescents from intact families are less likely to be exposed to these factors of sociofamilial adversity, therefore contributing to the high quality of
interactions with their parents. Such a context appears to allow adolescents to
maintain their attachment relationship with parents and predisposes them to
better tolerate potentially stressful events, such as starting middle school.

Practical Implications and Limitations of the Study

The results of this study suggest possible approaches that can be taken
by the parents of adolescents who are about to start middle school. These
approaches could concentrate on two areas: (a) parents maintenance of a
secure attachment relationship with their child and (b) parents recognition
that the transition to middle school can be a stressful event for their child.
First, parents could establish the conditions for maintaining a secure
relationship with their adolescent. Parents could be available and responsive to their children and know how to encourage and reassure them about

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760 Journal of Early Adolescence

their worth. This will help to create conditions for young adolescents to
recognize their distress, reveal their feelings to their parents, and rely on
them for support (Bowlby, 1988; Bretherton & Munholland, 1999; Cook,
2000). By responding appropriately and rapidly to their childs distress,
parents could support a more effective regulation of emotions, increase the
childs capacity to withstand changes, and encourage the use of effective
coping strategies to deal with these changes.
Second, it could be useful to make parents aware of the main challenges
facing their adolescent during the transition to middle school. The school
could encourage parents in this regard by sending them pamphlets and communiqus a few months before the start of middle school that would explain
the importance of staying involved with their adolescents. In addition, the
school could provide information on, for example, the code of conduct, special projects planned for the year, the exam schedule, student services, and
cultural and sports activities. Last, these efforts to promote awareness among
parents could be rounded off by an activity to welcome the new students as
well as talks for parents on topics such as homework supervision, support for
academic motivation, parent-adolescent conflict management, and so on.
Although the present investigation supports the mediation model, several
limitations should be taken into consideration when interpreting these findings. First, based on the correlational nature of the research design, a causal
relation cannot be established between the variables measured in the model.
Although attachment may play a role in teacher-academic worries through
the regulation of emotions, it is just as likely that worries predispose adolescents to develop symptoms of anxiety or depression (see Hammen &
Goodman-Brown, 1990). Moreover, such symptoms may weaken attachment security to parents, which, in turn, could increase the level of teacheracademic worries. Second, this study focused on symptoms rather than on
emotional disorders. Therefore, it cannot be presumed that the model tested
in this study is applicable to young people with a clinical diagnosis of anxiety or depression. Third, all the scales used in this study were self-reported
by students, which increases the likelihood that the effects obtained can be
attributed to the shared variance method. Future studies should therefore
consider using teachers or parents as additional sources of information.
To conclude, this study showed that the attachment security perceived by
young adolescents in their relationships with their mother is associated with
their teacher-academic worries about starting middle school. Symptoms of
anxiety seem to be an important mechanism for explaining this relationship. These results help to better understand the role of attachment to parents and emotional problems in the development of teacher-academic

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Duchesne et al. / Attachment and School Worries 761

worries. Moreover, they raise the importance of informing parents about the
changes and challenges that their child will soon have to live through in his
or her transition to middle school such that the child can objectivate his or
her perceptions about this transition and, ultimately, reduce his or her worries. Finally, this study could be enhanced by including multimethod,
multi-informant assessment. Future studies should take account of peer
relations, which represent a major developmental issue in early adolescence
likely to cause major worries and affect the social development of young
people (Holmbeck, Friedman, Abad, & Jandasek, 2006; Wenz-Gross et al.,
1997). These studies should also examine the contribution of potential factors that have not been considered in this research (behavioral problems,
social skills, learning disposition, self-esteem, class climate, etc.).

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Stphane Duchesne is a professor in educational psychology at Laval University (Qubec

City, Canada). He obtained his PhD in educational psychology from the same university
(2000). His main fields of research and teaching are adolescents problem behaviors, family
relationships, school transitions, and academic adjustment. Since 2004, he has been the principal investigator of longitudinal studies on the roles of individual and sociofamilial factors in
high school dropouts.
Catherine F. Ratelle completed a PhD in social psychology at the University of Quebec at
Montreal and is now a professor of educational psychology at Laval University. Her main
areas of work are school motivation and family relationships. More specifically, she studies
relational dynamics within families and their role in predicting students motivational processes as well as academic persistence and adjustment.

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766 Journal of Early Adolescence

Sarah-Caroline Poitras has been a doctoral candidate at Laval University (Qubec City,
Canada) since 2006. She obtained her masters degree in counseling from the same university.
Her research and teaching fields are related to the factors influencing adolescents persistence
and motivation in studies and careers.
Evelyne Drouin has been a research professional at Laval University (Qubec City, Canada)
since 2005. She obtained her masters degree in education from the same university. Her research
interests are mainly related to the factors influencing adolescents academic adjustment.

Downloaded from jea.sagepub.com at Alexandru Ioan Cuza on April 20, 2012