Adolescents’ attachment style and early experiences: a gender difference

Abstract

We examined gender differences in perceived rearing and adult attachment style in adolescents. A total of 3,912 senior college students (1,149 men and 2,763 women) ages 18-23 (men's M = 20.1 years, women's M = 20.0 years) were administered a set of questionnaires including Relationship Questionnaire (to measure adult attachment), the Parental Bonding Instrument (perceived rearing), and a list of early life events. In the men, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal care and low scores on maternal overprotection in a hierarchical regression analysis. On the other hand, in the women, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal and maternal care, and low score on maternal overprotection. Adult attachment was also predicted by fewer Peer Victimization experience as a child in both men and women. However, while men's adult attachment was predicted by Self Disease experiences, women's adult attachment was predicted by Top Star experiences and fewer Relocation experiences. The adult attachment style was predictable from early experiences but there existed some gender differences.

Parental Bonding and Early Maladaptive Schemas

“…The child is socially isolated; he/she fears abandonment or abuse and feels emotionally vulnerable. The above findings are in accordance to research studies such as the one conducted by Matsuoka [21] who showed that total attachment style was predicted by scores of paternal and maternal bonding. Thus, the adults' attachment style was predictable of early experiences but there existed some gender differences.…”

The effects of adult attachment and life stress on daily depression: a sample of Japanese university students

“…During the process of analysis, the 7-point scores were also recoded from 0-6. Matsuoka et al (2006) reported the psychometric property of the Japanese version of the RQ and proposed a single-factor structure using the exploratory factor analysis. In the prior studies, total attachment score (TAS) was calculated by subtracting the fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing scores from the secure score, with a higher score indicating a more secure attachment style (Liu, Shono, & Kitamura, 2008;Matsuoka et al, 2006).…”

The Effects of Perceived Parenting and Family Functioning on Adult Attachment: A Sample of Japanese University Students

“…The validation of the RQ was reported based on multiple measures of attachment including interview measures (Bartholomew & Horowiz, 1991;Griffin & Batholomew, 1994). Matsuoka et al (2006) reported the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the RQ and the singlefactor structure was proposed by an exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation. Therefore, Total Attachment Score (TAS) was calculated by subtracting the Fearful, Preoccupied and Dismissing scores from the Secure score, with a higher TAS indicating more secure adult attachment (Matsuoka et al, 2006).…”

“…In order to confirm the single-factor structure originally proposed by Matsuoka et al (2006), we performed confirmatory factor analysis of RQ using AMOS 6.0. The singlefactor structure of RQ was supported by GFI = .995, AGFI = .973, RMSEA = .073, indicating a good fit.…”