Perceived parental rearing behaviour and adult attachment patterns in intimate relationships

Based on the assumption that the parental rearing behaviour recalled by adults can be conceptualized as a specific mental representation of attachment, the study examines the associations between these rearing-related memories and adult attachment patterns in intimate relationships. The data for this study were obtained from a large community-based sample of the German population (1509 subjects between the ages of 18 and 50 years). Both, the perceived parental rearing behaviour and the adult attachment patterns have been assessed via questionnaires (Questionnaire of Recalled Parental Rearing Behaviour [Fragebogen zum erinnerten elterlichen Erziehungsverhalten, FEE] and Bielefeld Partnership Expectations Questionnaire [Bielefelder Fragebogen zu Partnerschaftserwartungen, BFPE]). As the result of the study it could be shown that a secure adult attachment pattern in intimate relationships is associated with a parental rearing behaviour that has been perceived as positive, while on the other hand insecure attachment patterns are rather associated with more negative experiences of parental rearing.     

Perceived parental rearing behaviour and psychopathology in epileptic patients: a controlled study

Memories of parental rearing behaviour were assessed by the EMBU in 61 epileptics and 151 healthy controls. The occurrence of the first crisis during the childhood was an inclusion criterion for patients. Epileptics, as compared with controls, rated their fathers and mothers as less stimulating, their fathers as less performance oriented and affectionate, and their mothers as more tolerant. Moreover, the score on the subscale 'favouring subject' for both fathers and mothers was higher in epileptics. As patients with and without interictal psychopathological features were compared, the scores on the subscales 'overprotective' and 'favouring subject' for mothers and 'abusive' and 'depriving' for fathers were higher in the former subgroup, whereas that on the subscale 'performance oriented' for fathers was higher in the latter. No significant difference was observed among patients suffering from the various subtypes of epilepsy. These results are consistent with the idea that parents of epileptics tend to encourage passivity in their children, have low expectations as regards their ability to operate effectively, and treat them in a more indulgent way because of their disability. Furthermore, they are in line with the reported association between maternal overprotectiveness and problem behaviour in epileptics.     

Perceived parental rearing,depression and coping behavior

Summary Within the framework of Perris' vulnerability model of psychopathology the relationships between perceived parental rearing and coping behaviour in adulthood have been investigated. Rejecting and punitive rearing practices of both parents seem to contribute to the formation of intrapsychic, emotion-oriented coping strategies. The results indicate that childhood social experiences, in particular, parent-child relations, both directly affect vulnerability to psychopathological manifestations in later life and indirectly influence the conditions through the aquistion of coping strategies.     

Perceived parental rearing of bipolar offspring

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of growing up with a parent with a bipolar disorder. First, we compared parental rearing behavior perceived by young adult offspring of bipolar parents with parental rearing behavior perceived by same aged young adults from the general population. Secondly, we examined the associations between perceived parental rearing behavior and parental psychopathology and psychopathology in offspring. METHOD: Subjects were 129 offspring of 80 bipolar parents and their spouses and 1122 young adults from the general population. In offspring the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was used to assess DSM-IV diagnoses and the EMBU was used to assess perceived parental rearing in both groups. RESULTS: In general, offspring growing up in a family with a bipolar parent perceived their mothers as less rejecting, more emotionally warm and less overprotecting and their fathers as less emotionally warm and less overprotecting compared with young adults from the general population. Perceived rejection was related to psychopathology in offspring. CONCLUSION: Overall, parental rearing in families with a parent with a bipolar disorder is not more dysfunctional, as perceived by their offspring, than in families from the general population. Offspring with a bipolar disorder perceive their parents as more rejecting.     

Perceived parental characteristics and reports of early parental deprivation in agoraphobic patients

It is commonly believed that patients with agoraphobia have suffered more frequently from aberrant family experiences in childhood. Some authors have described an excess of parental deprivation and others have incriminated parental overprotectiveness. Recent studies have failed to confirm these impressions but, instead, find that agoraphobic patients recall deficits in parental warmth and care during their early years. This report of a Sydney case-control study adds support to the view that parental overprotectiveness in isolation is unlikely to place the child at greater risk of developing agoraphobia in the future. Only when the child experiences a sense of parental neglect and lack of care, either alone or in combination with overprotection, does the risk of agoraphobia in adulthood appear to be increased.     

Perceived parental rearing behaviour in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. A verification study in an Italian sample

Two groups of former depressed Italian patients comprising 54 bipolars and 52 unipolars completed the Italian version of the EMBU, a Swedish instrument aimed at assessing the experience of parental rearing behaviour. As in a previous study of Swedish depressives, three factors, "rejection", "emotional warmth", and "over-protection", have been taken into account. The results obtained in the patient group have been compared with those obtained in Italian healthy controls. Depressed patients rated both parents significantly lower than the controls on the factor "emotional warmth". The present results cross-validate those obtained previously in the Swedish depressives and strengthen, together with other findings in the literature, the assumption that the lack of emotional warmth in the parents' rearing practices might be a crucial variable in the pathogenesis of depressive illnesses.     

Perceived parental rearing, personality and mental status in Japanese adolescents.

As a part of a prospective study on the psychological adjustment of Japanese teenagers enrolled in a foreign exchange student program, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Maudsley Personality Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were administered to 130 females and 47 males aged 17 through 19 before departure. Parental practices were found to influence personality features, which in turn contribute to the mental health status, but no direct significant relationship was found between the PBI and GHQ measures. The last finding is in contradistinction to the previous reports which report low care and high overprotection in unipolar depressives and anxiety disorder patients but in accordance with a recent finding which failed to replicate them in general population. It is possible that the earlier findings in clinical populations were a case of Berkson bias.     

自我接纳训练对精神分裂症患者自我幸福感与自尊的影响

目的 探讨自我接纳训练对精神分裂症患者自我幸福感与自尊的影响。方法 选取2015年 5 月—2017 年5 月于哈尔滨医科大学附属第一医院进行治疗的精神分裂症患者110 例作为研究对象, 采用随机数字表法分为观察组和对照组,每组各55 例。对照组患者给予常规护理,观察组在常规护理 的基础上辅以自我接纳训练进行精心护理干预。对护理干预前及干预后2 个月的简明精神病评分量表 （BPRS）、个人和社会功能评分量表（PSP）、总体幸福感评分（GWB）以及自尊评分量表（SES）等一系列指标 进行评估和对比。结果 干预后两组患者PSP 评分均显著升高, 而BPRS评分均显著降低（P＜0.05）,且观 察组PSP评分明显高于对照组,BPRS评分明显低于对照组（P＜0.05）;干预后,两组患者GWB评分及SES 评分均显著升高（P＜0.05）,且观察组GWB评分及SES评分均显著优于对照组（P＜0.05）。结论 自我接 纳训练有助于提高精神分裂症患者的康复疗效,促进患者社会功能恢复,提高患者的自尊心和自我幸 福感。     

Childhood parental bonding affects adulthood trait anxiety through self-esteem

IntroductionThe association between trait anxiety and parental bonding has been suggested. However, the mechanism remains uncertain and there is no study focused on general adult population. We investigated the association and the mechanism between childhood parental bonding and adulthood trait anxiety in the general adult population.Material and methodsA cross-sectional retrospective survey was conducted in 2014 with 853 adult volunteers from the general population. The Parental Bonding Instrument, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI-Y) were self-administered. Structural equation modelling was used for the analysis.ResultsChildhood parental bonding affected adulthood trait anxiety indirectly mediated by self-esteem. Trait anxiety was decreased by parental care and increased by parental overprotection through self-esteem. This model explained 51.1% of the variability in STAI-Y trait anxiety scores.ConclusionsThis study suggests an important role of self-esteem as a mediator between childhood parental bonding and adulthood trait anxiety.     

Personality, parental rearing behaviour and parental loss in attempted suicide: a comparative study

Thirty psychiatric patients (aged 18-29) who had attempted suicide were compared with 2 matched control groups, one consisting of nonsuicidal psychiatric patients and the other of normal subjects, for personality patterns, parental rearing practices and personal loss before the age of 15. The instruments used were the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), the Lazare-Klerman-Armor Trait Scale (LKAS), the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) and the Own Memories of Child-Rearing Experiences (EMBU). Patients admitted for suicide attempts differed significantly from normals on several personality dimensions, whereas suicide attempters did not have personality characteristics that made them substantially different from nonsuicidal psychiatric controls. The suicide attempters had experienced significantly more negative and less positive parental rearing factors than normals, but no difference was found between suicidal and nonsuicidal patients for own memories of parental rearing patterns. Parental loss due to divorce had occurred significantly more often among suicide attempters than among both nonsuicidal psychiatric patients and normals.     

Perceived parental characteristics of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder,depression, and panic disorder

It has been hypothesized that parents of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder exhibit specific traits. 320 consecutive inpatient admissions who met criteria for OCD, depression, and panic disorder checked a list of adjectives to describe their parents. Patients with OCD were 1) less likely to perceive their mothers as disorganized than depressives, 2) more likely to perceive their mothers as overprotective than depressives and 3) less likely to perceive their fathers as demanding than patients with panic.     

Perceived parental rearing behaviour in patients with a schizophrenic disorder and its relationship to aspects of the course of the illness

Skagerlind L, Perris C, Eisemann M. Perceived parental rearing behaviour in patients with a schizophrenic disorder and its relationship to aspects of the course of the illness. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1996: 93: 403–406. © Munksgaard 1996. A total of 57 patients of both sexes (27 women and 30 men) with a definite diagnosis of a schizophrenic disorder completed the EMBU, a Swedish instrument designed to assess the experience of parental behaviour, that has been extensively used in cross-national studies. As in previous studies in different patient populations, three factors, ‘rejection’, ‘emotional warmth’ and ‘overprotection’, have been taken into account. The results obtained in the patient group were compared with those obtained in a control sample of healthy Swedish subjects. Schizophrenic patients rated both parents higher than controls on the factor ‘rejection’, and rated their mothers lower on the factor ‘emotional warmth’. No correlation was found between EMBU score and age at the first hospitalization, or number of rehospitalizations within 1 year after discharge at the index episode. The present results cross-validate those obtained by other authors in other cultural settings, and suggest that negative experiences of parental rearing might be an important factor contributing to the development of ‘vulnerability’ in a person who will subsequently develop a schizophrenic disorder.     

Well-being and health behaviour by parental socioeconomic status

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of parental socioeconomic status (SES) on subjects' well-being and health behaviour in adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood, and whether these impacts remained after controlling for the person's own SES. Methods: All 16-year-old ninth-grade school pupils of one Finnish city completed questionnaires at school. Subjects were followed up using postal questionnaires when aged 22 and 32 years. Results: Females of manual class origin had lower self-esteem and more distress symptoms from adolescence to adulthood than those from a non-manual background. Lower self-esteem was found among males from manual class families in adolescence and early adulthood. In both genders, no significant class differences were found in depression, health status or prevalence of chronic illness. Unhealthier behaviours regarding smoking and physical activity were more prevalent among both genders of manual class origin, and females of this group had higher rates of overweight and higher body mass index scores. After controlling for the person's own SES, the effect of parental SES diminished but remained significant for smoking in both genders and for physical activity in males up to 22 years, and for self-esteem and BMI in females up to 32. Conclusions: This follow-up study contributes to the health inequality debate investigating parental SES differences in health behaviour and somatic health, and particularly in psychological health, which is relatively rarely investigated. The results indicate that parental SES has effects on early adult and adult well-being and health behaviour other than those mediated by current SES. Accepted: 11 November 2002 Correspondence to Taina Huurre, Lic.Ed., Ph.D.     

Perceived parental rearing and state versus trait aspects of adult depression

In a pilot study of 72 psychiatric inpatients, relationships between state versus trait aspects of depression and perceived parental rearing have been investigated. It appeared that trait aspects (assessed by the mood scale of the Giessen test) yielded the most frequent and highest correlations with the factors rejection, emotional warmth and overprotection of the EMBU (Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran--My Memories of Upbringing) questionnaire of parental rearing. Particularly rejecting maternal rearing behaviour during childhood seems to constitute a risk factor for the development of trait depression during adulthood.     

Eating behaviour, drug use, psychopathology and parental bonding in adolescents in Norway.

A 12-item version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-12) was constructed and applied at 1-year intervals in a non-referred cohort of 1193 adolescents in Norway aged 13-18 years. Eight percent of the girls scored beyond the chosen cut-off point of 9/10 the first time and 9% the second time. Factor analysis demonstrated 3 factors--dieting, bulimia and food preoccupation and oral control. Both the total scores on the EAT-12 and the 3 different factor scores showed a significant relationship between eating behaviour and smoking, level of alcohol consumption, alcohol intoxication, psychopathology and parental bonding.     

Perceived parental sacrifice,filial piety and hopelessness among Chinese adolescents: A cross-lagged panel study

IntroductionThere is a dearth of research on examining the longitudinal effects of cultural family processes on adolescent hopelessness, and the mechanisms through which the effects happen. Hence, the present study examined the relationship among parental (paternal and maternal) sacrifices, filial piety and adolescent hopelessness in the Chinese context.MethodsThe study was based on a three-wave longitudinal data from a sample of 1569 Chinese adolescents (Time 1: mean age = 13.15 ± .92 years; 50.8% girls). The adolescents were invited to fill out a questionnaire containing measurements of studied variables thrice, at an interval of one year.ResultsThe results of cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that maternal sacrifice was associated with filial piety, which in turn was linked with hopelessness among Chinese adolescents. Moreover, there was bidirectional effects of adolescent hopelessness at earlier time point on paternal and maternal sacrifice at later time point via filial piety.ConclusionsThe study showed that maternal sacrifice serves as a protective factor that reduces adolescents’ sense of hopelessness via the development of filial piety. At the same time, the bidirectional indirect effects of filial piety on the relationship between parental sacrifice and adolescent hopelessness also alert family researchers and youth practitioners on the child effects on parental behavior in Chinese families. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Ethnic identity, externalizing problem behaviour and the mediating role of self-esteem among Dutch, Turkish-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch adolescents

The present study examined whether self-esteem mediates the relationship between two aspects of ethnic identity (i.e. ethnic identity exploration and ethnic identity commitment-affirmation) and externalizing problem behaviour in Dutch, Turkish-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch adolescents living in the Netherlands. A total number of 345 adolescents (115 Dutch, 115 Turkish-Dutch, 115 Moroccan-Dutch) with a mean age of 14.5 filled in questionnaires at school. Turkish-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch adolescents reported higher levels of both aspects of ethnic identity than their native Dutch counterparts, but there were no ethnic differences in self-esteem and externalizing problem behaviour. Only in the Moroccan-Dutch group was support found for the mediational model: stronger ethnic identity commitment-affirmation was related to a higher level of self-esteem, which, in turn, was related to a lower level of externalizing problem behaviour.