Children who have experienced maltreatment are more likely to have disrupted attachments, fewer psychosocial strengths, and poorer long-term psychosocial outcomes. However, few studies have examined the interplay between attachment security and psychosocial strengths among children involved in therapeutic services in the context of the child welfare system. The present longitudinal study examines the insecure attachment behaviors and psychosocial strengths of 555 children referred to the Therapeutic Family Care program (TFCP) in Cobourg, Ontario between 2000 and 2019. The children were assessed by their caregivers on a regular basis using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and the complementary strengths-focused ACC+ measure. Average age of children at baseline was 9.57 years (SD = 3.51) and 229 (41.26%) were female. We conducted growth curve and random intercepts cross-lagged panel models to test the longitudinal interplay between insecure attachment behaviors and strengths. Results suggest that females’ attachment security improved, males’ attachment security worsened, and both males and females developed strengths over time. Further, analyses revealed a directional effect, whereby fewer insecure attachment behaviors predicted more psychosocial strengths approximately 6 months later. Implications for attachment-oriented and strengths-based services in the context of child welfare are discussed.

Research has supported a link between insecure attachment and disordered eating in adolescents; however, how this influence is exerted remains unclear. This study explored whether depressive symptoms constitute a pathway through which insecure attachment to parents predicts subsequent development of disordered eating in the transition from childhood to adolescence. The study also examines whether there are differential effects regarding the attachment figure, child's gender, or reciprocity between variables. A community-based sample of Spanish youth (n = 904; 49.4% girls) was followed biennially from age 10 to 16 years. Attachment, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating were measured using the Inventory of Parental and Peer Attachment, Children's Depression Inventory, and Children's Eating Attitudes Test, respectively. Prospective data were analyzed using a dynamic panel model, which accounts for unmeasured time-invariant factors. Whereas insecure attachment to the father did not predict later depression or disordered eating, higher insecure attachment to the mother at ages 10 and 12 years predicted more disordered eating at ages 14 and 16 years via increased depressive symptoms at ages 12 and 14 years. No child's gender-specific or reverse mediational effects were found. This study suggests that an increase in depressive symptoms might be one mechanism by which insecure attachment exerts its influence on the development of eating disorders symptomatology in adolescence. Intervention efforts aimed at strengthening particularly the mother–child attachment relationship may reduce the vulnerability to develop depressive symptoms and disordered eating.

In this study, we explored the effects of mentor and mentee insecure attachment dispositions (ambivalence and avoidance) on mentoring relationship quality while considering the specific nature of the interactive mentoring context. Participants (N = 252 matches) were enrolled in the MIRES program, a one-year college-based mentoring program that matches late adolescent mentees (17-year-olds) with young adult mentors (23-year-olds), designed to facilitate the transition to college. Using data drawn from mentors’ logbooks (at nine time points), two interactive contexts were addressed: (1) situations involving mentee academic issues and mentor proactive academic support (academically oriented), and (2) situations involving mentee personal issues and mentor emotional support, and caring (emotionally oriented). Linear regression results showed that both mentors’ and mentees’ avoidance uniquely predicted lower reports of mentoring relationship quality, but especially in emotionally oriented matches and when their partners’ attachment ambivalence was high. In matches less focused on emotional support, mentors’ attachment avoidance interacted with mentees’ ambivalence to predict positive mentoring relationship quality. Theoretical, practical, and mentor training issues are discussed.