Examination of Three Models of the Relationships Between Parental Attachments and Adolescents' Social Functioning and Depressive Symptoms

• NCJ Number: 223685
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 8 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 941-952
• Author(s): Yih-Lan Liu
• Date Published: September 2008
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study compared three models of attachment relationships--the hierarchy, integrative, and independent models--in order to determine which model best described the relationship between attachments to fathers compared to mothers and developmental consequences among 1,289 eighth-grade students (720 boys and 566 girls) in Taiwan.

Abstract

The findings show that the three models individually explain some characteristics of attachment relationships; however, the independent model might be the most appropriate descriptor of adolescents' attachment relationships and their social functioning and depressive symptoms. The analyses did not provide strong evidence to support the hierarchical model, in which the influence of maternal attachment is significant. Current findings show that, compared to maternal attachment, paternal attachment was more significant in predicting friend support, peer expectations, and self-worth for both genders. This suggests that compared to paternal attachment, maternal attachment does not have such a dominant effect on adolescent's social functioning. Regarding the integrative model, the results of MANOVA analyses showed that adolescents with two secure attachment relationships displayed better social functioning and fewer depressive symptoms than adolescents with two insecure attachment relationships; however, firm support for the integrative model was not found in the current study. This is because adolescents with a secure attachment to one parent (either to mother or father) always scored in between the groups with two secure/insecure attachments, and the differences did not reach statistical significance in most of the measured variables. With regard to the independent model, the results of regression analyses indicated that among adolescent girls, family support was better predicted by maternal attachment; whereas, their social expectations in peer interaction, friend support, self-worth, and depressive symptoms were better predicted by paternal attachments. 7 tables and 50 references