Perceived attachments to parents and peers and psychological well-being in adolescence

Abstract

This paper reports the findings from a study of 935 adolescents' perceived attachments to their parents and peers, and their psychological health and well-being. Perceived attachment to parents did not significantly differ between males and females. However, females scored significantly higher than males on a measure of attachment to peers. Also, relative to males, they had higher anxiety and depression scores, suggesting poorer psychological well-being. Overall, a lower perceived attachment to parents was significantly associated with lower scores on the measures of well-being. Adolescents who perceived high attachments to both their parents and peers had the highest scores on a measure of self-perceived strengths. In this study, adolescents' perceived attachment to peers did not appear to compensate for a low attachment to parents in regard to their mental ill-health. These findings suggest that high perceived attachment to parents may be a critical variable associated with psychological well-being in adolescence.

Parental Responses to Pain in High Catastrophizing Children: The Moderating Effect of Child Attachment

“…A high score on the overall attachment scale (range 10-40) indicates higher levels of child secure attachment towards the parents. The IPPA has shown to be a reliable and valid instrument 4,12,44 .…”

Tobacco Smoking in Adolescence Predicts Maladaptive Coping Styles in Adulthood

“…However, several measures had been used to assess different aspects of adolescent coping, and these were combined to form a stable latent variable. These measures included the Communication subscale of a shortened version of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA: Armsden & Greenberg, 1987;Nada Raja et al, 1992). Four items assessed perceived levels of communication with each of parents and peers, with items rated on a four-point Likert-type scale of 1 = almost never or never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, and 4 = almost always or always.…”

“…Given differences between adolescent boys and girls both in terms of experienced distress (Byrne & Mazanov, 2003;, coping behaviors (Nada Raja, McGee, & Stanton, 1992), and rates of smoking in NZ (Stanton, 1995), we also examine gender-based differences in the relationships between smoking and coping in later adulthood..…”

Perceiving concealment in relationships between parents and adolescents: Links with parental behavior

“…Response categories ranged from 1 ¼ never to 4 ¼ almost always. Empirical research on the psychometric properties showed high internal consistencies (e.g., Armsden & Greenberg;Nada Raja, McGee, & Stanton, 1992). Furthermore, a high 3-week test-retest reliability has been reported, and the scale appears to possess convergent validity (Armsden & Greenberg).…”