Parent-Child Relationships in Poland and Germany: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

The Childhood Questionnaire (CQ) was designed for adults to retrospectively describe their relationships with their parents. A cross-national survey was performed to test the intelligibility and precision of the questions and to explore cultural differences. A short version of the CQ was administered to two samples via Internet, one each in Poland and Germany. It contained four dimensions concerning each parent: perceived love, control, ambition and role reversal, all of which could be assessed reliably in both Poland and Germany. It was concluded that the Childhood Questionnaire is suitable for research in both countries. Characteristic differences between the respondents of the two countries can be explained as a function of history.

Early evidence of parental attachment among polish adolescents

“…Even though the younger generation remains closely connected, they do not look like to have a strong emotional bond with their parents as compared with Italian adolescents; notwithstanding under the recent individualistic orientation a greater sense of independence is now present against these ties. Also as observed by Hardt et al (2011) it may reflect the wish for mothers that their child develop well socially and attain a better (economic) status than the family have, more than to commit themselves to an affectionate bond so the mother continues to maintain the task of managing the family in Poland but with different aims than attachment. Moreover, may be, mothers’ experience of their personal life after the collapse of communism could have led them to be more preoccupied by off-family tasks related with macro-processes linked with transformation, and for these reasons less concerned about parenting or child-care.…”

“…On the other hand, although also in Italy a family orientation is present, parent-child relationships are characterized by a bidirectional path through which autonomy, support, emotional bonding and reciprocal respect are fundamental. Hardt et al (2011) comparing parent-child relationships in Poland and Germany found that Polish mothers and fathers were evaluated as stronger and weaker, respectively, than German ones. The authors suggested that a possible explanation may refer to Polish domestic matriarchy, which see the family ruled by the mother than the father although the father maintained his position as the head of the family ( Walczewska, 1999 ).…”

“…Poland is a country with specific cultural context. Although prior research has addressed Polish young adults’ attachment in a retrospective study ( Hardt, Dragan, Schultz, & Engfer, 2011 ), little has been done to study parental attachment among Polish adolescents. The current research aimed to address this void using a widely used self-report measure specifically devised for the assessment of parental attachment among adolescents: the revised version of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R; Armsden & Greenberg, 2001 ).…”

A new questionnaire for measuring quality of life - the Stark QoL

“…Table 1 displays the sample characteristics. The sample has been described in detail by Hardt et al [13]. …”