Associations between parenting style and attachment to mother in middle childhood and adolescence

Abstract

Associations between parenting style and quality of child–mother attachment in middle childhood ( n = 202; grades 4–6) and adolescence ( n = 212; grades 7–11) were investigated. Participants rated warm involvement, psychological autonomy granting, and behavioural monitoring (Lamborn et al., 1991). Attachment orientation was assessed using the Network of Relationships Questionnaire (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985), Coping Styles Questionnaire (Finnegan et al., 1996), and Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). Overall, a positive association was found between authoritative parenting (higher scores on all three dimensions) and secure attachment, whereas negligent parenting (lower scores on all three dimensions) predicted avoidant attachment. Moreover, a unique pattern of associations emerged between particular dimensions of parenting and each attachment style. Findings suggests that psychological autonomy may have important implications for children’s views of self whereas warm parental involvement may play a unique role in their views of the attachment figure. Associations were largely consistent across both age groups.