Exploring the Link Between Maltreatment and Attachment Style in Foster Youth

Purpose: The link between parental maltreatment in infancy/childhood and the development of an insecure attachment style (anxious, avoidant and/or disorganized) has been well established in the literature. Less is known, however, about the attachment styles of youth who have experienced multiple forms of maltreatment. In this study, we explore how poly-victimization prior to foster care entry may predict attachment styles of youth in care. We adopt a person-centered approach (latent class analysis) in an effort to capture distinct profiles of the poly-victimization of youth who participated in the 1^stwave of the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Study). We then evaluate how membership in a particular maltreatment class increased the likelihood that certain youth would have elevated anxious and/or avoidant attachment scores.

Methods:Our sample included 695 17-year-old current foster youth living in three Midwestern states. Latent class analysis (LCA) models were fit using Mplus Version 7.  We used eight indicators of maltreatment included in the baseline survey to identify latent classes of maltreatment experience prior to foster care entry. Once these classes were established, we used multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to evaluate the extent to which membership in a certain maltreatment class influenced anxious and avoidant attachment scores at age 17. We used an adapted version of The Experiences in Close-Relationships-Revised Scale (ECR-R) to measure attachment. Sex, number of foster care placements and parental domestic violence were included as control variables.

Results: A three-class solution was selected as the best fitting model. 64.1% of the sample was placed in class 1. This class showed elevated levels of neglect and was called the “predominant neglect class” (PNC). 18.1% of the sample was placed in class 2. This class showed elevated levels of sexual maltreatment and was called the “sexual maltreatment class” (SMC). 17.8% of the sample was placed in class 3. This class showed elevated levels of neglect, physical maltreatment and sexual maltreatment and was called the “multiple maltreatment class” (MMC). Youth in the MMC (p = .004) and youth in the SMC (p = <.001) had significantly higher anxious attachment scores than youth in the PNC. Those in the MMC also had significantly higher avoidant attachment scores than youth in the PNC (p = .011). Each foster care placement appeared to increase the avoidant attachment score for youth in the sample at large by .015 standard deviations.

Implications: The classification of maltreatment experiences provides those working in the field of child welfare with greater information about the likelihood of co-occurring maltreatment. Study findings indicate that youth experiencing poly-victimization prior to foster care entry are more likely to possess anxious and avoidant attachment styles, placing these youth at heightened risk of having problematic and/or arduous interpersonal relationships with coworkers, friends, romantic partners and family members. Targeted intervention efforts and foster care placement stability may work to enable these youth to have more harmonious, long-term interpersonal relationships.