STILE D’ATTACCAMENTO E FUNZIONE RIFLESSIVA IN ADOLESCENTI APPARTENENTI A FAMIGLIE UNITE E SEPARATE

The aim of this work is to investigate the attachment style and the Reflective Function in adolescents belonging to united and separated families. Forty adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age have been tested through the ‘Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence’. The ‘Reflective Function Scale’ and the ‘Relational episodes” were considered too. Outcomes show that the make up of the family nucleus does not seem to influence the style of attachment. Notwithstanding this basic data some differences in the sub-scale ‘Father Dismissing derogation’ and ‘Unresolved Loss’ emerge and seem to indicate a greater vulnerability in adolescents belonging to separated families. The comparison between attachment patterns and the Reflective Function indicates that reflective functioning is lower in male adolescents from separate families. Adolescents of separated families have less relational episodes, often negative.