Do Parenting Behaviors Predict Externalizing Behavior in Adolescence, or Is Attachment the Neglected 3rd Factor?

• NCJ Number: 214985
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 373-383
• Author(s): Guy Bosmans; Caroline Braet; Karla Van Leeuwen; Wim Beyers
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the role of attachment in the link between parenting behaviors and problem behaviors during adolescence.

Abstract

Compared to girls, boys reported higher levels of negative control by both parents and lower levels of positive parenting by their mothers. Younger children reported higher levels of attachment to both their mothers and fathers and lower levels of behavioral problems. No significant interaction effects between age and gender were found. This study confirmed the findings of Doyle and Markiewicz in showing that the level of secure attachment to parents was important in the link between parenting and problem behavior; however, the way parenting, attachment, and problem behavior were related differed across age groups. In preadolescence there was an association between negative parental control and problem behavior, but this link was only partially determined by attachment. In middle adolescence, problem behavior was no longer linked to negative control by the mother; however, adolescents whose mothers exercised high levels of negative control were less securely attached and showed more problem behavior. As children become adolescents, environmental factors, such as peers, become more important, parenting has less influence, and time spent in the family diminishes. Attachment apparently becomes a more stable influence on problem behavior toward the end of adolescence. Using questionnaires, data were obtained from 511 Flemish, Dutch-speaking adolescents who ranged in age from 10 to 18 years old. The sample was divided into three age groups: 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18. The Youth Self-Report was used to measure behavioral problems adolescents might exhibit. Attachment to mother and father was measured with a short version of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Parental behavior was measured with the Ghent Parental Behavior Scale, which measures the following parental behaviors: positive involvement, monitoring, problem solving, structure, and positive reinforcement. Only the adolescents completed this questionnaire. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 59 references