The Relationship Between Parents' Verbal Aggressiveness and Responsiveness and Young Adult Children's Attachment Style and Relational Satisfaction with Parents

Abstract

Guided largely by an attachment theory perspective, a two-part study was conducted to determine the effects of perceived and self-report parent verbal aggression and responsiveness on young adult children's attachment style and relational satisfaction with parents. In part one, 205 undergraduate students completed an in-person self-administered survey. In part two, mail surveys were sent to 389 parents; 79% of parents returned the surveys. As hypothesized, mothers and fathers of children with a secure attachment style were perceived as significantly lower in verbal aggression and higher in responsiveness than parents of children with nonsecure attachment styles. Further, perceived and self-report parent verbal aggression was negatively related to, and perceived and self-report parent responsiveness was positively related to, young adult children's relational satisfaction with both mothers and fathers. Implications for these and other findings are discussed.