Vakgroep Ontwikkelings-, Persoonlijkheids- en Sociale Psychologie

How do people respond to life transitions that threaten the need for relatedness?
The role of security of attachment.

It is widely accepted that all people have a basic human need for relatedness. This means that everyone needs warm interpersonal interactions to feel good about him/herself. In contrast, people who suffer from chronic loneliness and who find themselves in hostile or rejecting relationships would be at a higher risk for psychological problems. All people go through certain life transitions that could challenge this feeling of warm interpersonal connection (e.g., parents bringing their baby to day-care for the first time, parents witnessing the home-leaving process of their adolescent). However, not all people experience this transition as equally distressing and some people respond to it differently than others. Therefore, the project will investigate two important questions: (a) What factors determine why some people experience the same event as more or less frustrating in terms of relatedness? and (b) What are possible reactions to such events, and what factors determine how people respond?

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2011). The role of depressogenic personality and attachment in the intergenerational similarity of depressive symptoms: A study with early adolescents and their mothers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 284-297.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2011). An Adaptation of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised for Use with Children and Adolescents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28, 1048-1072.

Brenning, K., & Braet, C. (2013). The emotion regulation model of attachment: An emotion-specific approach. Personal Relationships, 20, 107-123.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bal, S. (2012). The Role of Parenting and Mother-Adolescent Attachment in the Intergenerational Similarity of Internalizing Symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 802-816.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2012). Attachment and depressive symptoms in middle childhood and early adolescence: Testing the validity of the emotion regulation model of attachment. Personal Relationships, 19, 445-464.

Brenning, K., Bosmans, G., Braet, C., & Theuwis, L. (2012). Gender differences in cognitive schema vulnerability and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Behaviour Change, 29, 164-182.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Beyers, W. (2013). Longitudinal dynamics of depressogenic personality and attachment dimensions in adolescence: An examination of associations with changes in depressive symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1128-1144.

Van Petegem, S., Beyers, W., Brenning, K., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2013). Exploring the association between insecure attachment and adolescent autonomy in family decision making: A Differentiated Approach. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1837-1846.

Brenning, K., Van Petegem, S., Vanhalst, J., & Soenens, B. (2014). The psychometric qualities of a short version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale - Revised Child version. Personality and Individual Differences, 68, 118-123.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2015). Perceived Maternal Autonomy-support and Early Adolescent Emotion Regulation: A longitudinal Study. Social Development.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., & Braet, C. (2015). Testing the Incremental Value of a Separate Measure for Secure Attachment Relative to a Measure for Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance in Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2014). Hechtingsangst en –vermijding bij kinderen en adolescenten. Psychopraktijk, 6, 28-31. 

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2009, September). Attachment and depression in middle childhood and early adolescence, the contribution of emotion-regulation as possible mediator. In G. Bosmans (Chair), Novel approaches to study the influence of interpersonal experiences on clinically relevant behavior. Symposium conducted at the 39^th EABCT annual congress, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2010, July). Assessing attachment anxiety and avoidance in middle childhood and early adolescence: The development of a child version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised. Poster presented at the 21^st International ISSBD Congress ( International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development), Lusaka, Zambia.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bosmans, G. (2010, June). Attachment and depression in middle childhood and early adolescence, the contribution of emotion-regulation as possible mediator. Poster presented at the World Congress of Behavioral Health and Cognitive Therapies, Boston, USA.

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S. & Mabbe, E., (2014, June). Adolescents’ coping with parental psychological control: The role of emotion regulation. In S. B. Özdemir (Chair), Understanding psychologically controlling parenting during adolescence and emerging adulthood across difference cultural contexts. Symposium conducted at the ISSBD Congress (International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development), Shanghai, China.