Characterized by acute changes in attachment relationships, adolescence is a time of balancing autonomy and attachment needs. For adolescents in wilderness therapy programs, the setting often challenges their understanding of their own attachment relationships. The current study evaluates the narratives of 13 adolescents in a wilderness therapy program in an attempt to understand their attitudes toward parents, therapists, and other adult figures. Results showed that while participants cited the importance of trusting adults in their lives, they also reported a general lack of trust between parents and themselves. The majority of participants reported rebelling against boundaries set by parents. They also described relationships with mothers negatively, characterizing mothers as controlling and strict. The findings of this study provide insight into working with adolescents by pointing to what are often unseen relational dynamics in treatment. Findings illustrate the need for relational interventions in wilderness therapy that support the formation of adolescents' healthy relational dynamics.
AllenJ. P.AberJ. L.LeadbeaterB. J. (1990). Adolescent problem behaviors: The influence of attachment and autonomy. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 13(3), 455–467.
2.
AllenJ. P.HauserS. T.O'ConnorT. G.BellK. L.EickholtC. (1996). The connection of observed hostile family conflict to adolescents’ developing autonomy and relatedness with parents. Development and Psychopathology, 8(2), 425–442.
3.
AllenJ. P.LandD.(1999). Attachment in adolescents. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R.(Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications, (pp. 319–335. New York: Guildford Press.
4.
BettmannJ. E. (2007). Changes in adolescent attachment relationships as a response to wilderness treatment. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 55(1), 259–265.
5.
BettmannJ.JaspersonR. (2008). Adults in wilderness treatment: A unique application of attachment theory and research. Clinical Social Work Journal, 36(1), 51–61.
6.
BowlbyJ. (1947). The study of human relations in the child guidance clinic. Journal of Social Issues, 3, 35–41.
7.
BowlbyJ. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation, anxiety, and anger, New York: Basic Books.
8.
BowlbyJ. (1978). Attachment theory and its therapeutic implications. Adolescent Psychiatry, 6, 5–33.
9.
BowlbyJ. (1980). Attachment and loss, New York: Basic Books.
10.
BowlbyJ. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development, New York: Basic Books.
11.
Byng-HallJ.(1999). Family and couple therapy: Toward greater security. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R.(Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications, (pp. 319–335. New York: Guildford Press.
12.
ConnellA. M.DishionT. J.YasuiM.KavanaghK. (2007). An adaptive approach to family intervention: Linking engagement in family-centered intervention to reductions in adolescent problem behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(4), 568–579.
13.
CunninghamP.PageT. F. (2001). A case study of a maltreated thirteen-year-old boy: Using attachment theory to inform treatment in a residential program. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 18(5), 335–352.
14.
DegnerJ.HenriksenA.OscarssonL. (2007). Youths in coercive residential care: Perception of parents and social network involvement in treatment programs. Therapeutic Communities, 28(4), 416–432.
15.
DishionT. J.PattersonG. R.(2006). The development and ecology of antisocial behavior. In CiccettiD.CohenD. J.(Eds.), Developmental Psychology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder, and adaptation, New York: Wiley.
16.
DykasM. J.WoodhouseS. S.CassidyJ.WatersH. S. (2006). Narrative assessment of attachment representations: Links between secure base scripts and adolescent attachment. Attachment and Human Development, 8(3), 221–240.
17.
FarberB. A.MetzgerJ. A.(2009). The therapist as a secure base. In ObegiJ. H.BerantE.(Eds.), Attachment theory and research in clinical work with adults, (pp. 46–70. New York: Guilford Press.
18.
FeeneyB. C.CassidyJ. (2003). Reconstructive memory related to adolescent-parent conflict interactions: The influence of attachment-related representations on immediate perceptions and changes in perceptions over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(5), 945–955.
19.
GrusecJ. E.GoodnowJ. J. (1994). Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values: A reconceptualization of current points of view. Developmental Psychology, 30(1), 4–19.
20.
HamiltonC. E. (2000). Continuity and discontinuity of attachment from infancy through adolescence. Child Development, 71(3), 690–694.
21.
HarperN. J. (2009). The relationship of therapeutic alliance to outcome in wilderness treatment. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 9(1), 45–59.
22.
HarperN.RussellK.CooleyR.CupplesJ. (2007). Catherine Freer wilderness therapy expeditions: An exploratory case study of adolescent wilderness therapy, family functioning, and the maintenance of change. Child & Youth Care Forum, 36(2/3), 111–129. doi:10.1007/s10566–007-9035–1.
23.
HazanC.ShaverP. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511–524.
24.
HubermanM.MilesM. B. (2002). The qualitative researcher's companion, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
KeileyM. K.SeeryB. L. (2001). Affect regulation and attachment strategies of adjudicated and non-adjudicated adolescents and their parents. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 23(3), 343–366.
26.
KupermincG. P.AllenJ. P.ArthurM. W. (1996). Autonomy, relatedness, and male adolescent delinquency: Toward a multidimensional view of social competence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 11(4), 397–420.
27.
LaibleD. (2007). Attachment with parents and peers in late adolescence: Links with emotional competence and social behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(5), 1185–1197.
28.
LaibleD.CarloG.RoeschS. C. (2004). Pathways to self-esteem in late adolescence: The role of parent and peer attachment, empathy, and social behaviours. Journal of Adolescence, 27(6), 703–716.
29.
MaC. Q.HuebnerE. S. (2008). Attachment relationships and adolescents’ life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys. Psychology in the Schools, 45(2), 177–190.
30.
MainM.KaplanN.CassidyJ. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood and adolescence: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1/2), 66–104.
31.
MarshallC.RossmanG. B. (2006). Designing qualitative research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
32.
MaxwellJ. A.MillerB. A.(2008). Categorizing and connecting strategies in qualitative data analysis. In Hesse-BiberS. N.NagyS.LevyP.(Eds.), Handbook of emergent methods, New York: Guilford Press.
33.
MosesT. (2000). Attachment theory and residential treatment: A study of staff-client relationships. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(4), 474–490.
34.
NickersonA. B.NagleR. J. (2005). Parent and peer attachment in late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(2), 223–249.
35.
NorcrossJ. C. (2002). Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients, New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
ReposaR. E. (1993). Group and family treatment with adolescents: An integrated treatment model. Child & Adolescent Mental Health Care, 3(3), 169–174.
37.
RussellK. C. (2001). What is wilderness therapy?Journal of Experiential Education, 24(2), 70–79.
38.
RussellK. C. (2003). An assessment of outcomes in outdoor behavioral healthcare treatment. Child and Youth Care Forum, 32(6), 355–381.
39.
RussellK. C. (2005). Two years later: A qualitative assessment of youth well-being and the role of aftercare in outdoor behavioral healthcare treatment. Child and Youth Care Forum, 34(3), 209–239.
40.
SeidmanI. (1998). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences, (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
41.
ShaverP. R.FraleyR. C.(2008). Attachment, loss, and grief: Bowlby's views and current controversies. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R.(Eds.), Handbook of Attachment, (2nd ed., pp. 48–77). New York: Guilford Press.
42.
SroufeL. A. (2005). Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 7(4), 349–367.
43.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
WallinD. J. (2007). Attachment in psychotherapy, New York: Guilford Press.
45.
WatersE.MerrickS.TrebouxD.CrowellJ.AlbersheimL. (2000). Attachment security in infancy and early adulthood: A twenty-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 71(3), 684–689.
46.
ZegersM. A. M.SchuengelC.van IJzendoornM. H.JanssensJ. M. A. M. (2006). Attachment representations of institutionalized adolescents and their professional caregivers: Predicting the development of therapeutic relationships. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(3), 325–334.
47.
ZegersM. A. M.SchuengelC.van IJzendoornM. H.JanssensJ. M. A. M. (2008). Attachment and problem behavior of adolescents during residential treatment. Attachment & Human Development, 10(1), 91–103.
