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

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 one year later, which in turn,...