Do adolescents and parents reconstruct memories about their conflict as a function of adolescent attachment?

This study examined whether 17-year-old adolescents (n=189) and their parents reconstructed their memory for an adolescent-parent laboratory conflict over a 6-week period as a function of adolescent attachment organization. It also compared participants' perceptions of conflict over time to observational ratings of the conflict to further characterize the nature of the attachment-related memory biases that emerged. Secure adolescents reconstructed interactions with each parent more favorably over time, whereas insecure adolescents showed less favorable reconstructive memory. Likewise, mothers of secure girls reconstructed conflicts more favorably over time, whereas mothers of insecure boys showed less favorable reconstructive memory. Participant ratings were associated with observational ratings in theoretically consistent ways. Contrary to expectations, fathers showed no attachment-related memory biases.