Attachment relationships and adolescents' life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which the quality of parent and peer attachments related to early adolescents' life satisfaction (LS), whether peer attachment served as a mediator between parent attachment and LS, and potential gender differences. A total of 587 middle school students in grades 6 through 8 participated. Although both parent and peer attachment positively related to LS, parent attachment was the stronger unique predictor. There was no significant difference between males and females in levels of parent attachment; however, females reported higher levels of attachment to peers. This study also found that early adolescents were more attached to their mothers than their fathers. Finally, peer attachment partially mediated the relationship between parent attachment and LS, but only for females. Implications for gender-specific intervention programs are discussed.

“Go Girls!”: psychological and behavioral outcomes associated with a group-based healthy lifestyle program for adolescent girls

“…program. Based on previous research that highlights the importance of fostering interpersonal relationships when working with girls [10][11][12], it is plausible to suggest that fostering a sense of belonging may have contributed to the effectiveness of the Go Girls! program.…”

“…been identified as an important factor to consider when developing programs to target adolescent girls' behaviors. For example, interpersonal connections have been highlighted as particularly important for overcoming the unique challenges faced by adolescent girls [10][11][12]. In particular, when girls experience positive connections to their school, peers, or important adults (e.g., teachers, mentors, etc.…”

Rizični Čimbenici Eksternaliziranih Ponašanja I Odstupajućih Navika Hranjenja Među Adolescentima

“…U skladu s rezultatima nekoliko studija (npr. Ma i Huebner, 2008.;Livazović, 2011. ), djevojke su izvještavale o većoj kvaliteti odnosa s vršnjacima.…”

Differences of Attachment Styles to Fathers Between Early Adolescent Male and Female

“…A study showed that the father attachment was more significantly related to social competence in various social situations (Ma & Huebner, 2008).…”

“…Reliability is the extent to which the results of the measurement can be trusted (Azwar, 1999). Reliability estimation technique used was the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient technique, with the following formula.…”