The bond an individual had with their caregivers in childhood can influence their mental health in adulthood. A body of literature suggests that parental bonding is believed to have significant...Show moreThe bond an individual had with their caregivers in childhood can influence their mental health in adulthood. A body of literature suggests that parental bonding is believed to have significant influence on the possible development of various psychopathologies, such as alcohol use and loneliness. This study examined the influence of parental bonding on alcohol use and loneliness. The participants of this study were part of the longitudinal NESDA study (N = 1685). Parental bonding, specifically care and overprotection, was measured with the parental bonding instrument (PBI). Two mediation analyses were run: parental care and overprotection were expected to predict alcohol use, mediated by loneliness. To control for confounders, depression and anxiety symptoms were included as covariates. The results demonstrated that both low parental care and high overprotection predict loneliness. However, loneliness was not associated with alcohol use and did not mediate the relationship between parental bonding and alcohol consumption. Surprisingly, low overprotection was associated with higher alcohol use. Meanwhile, parental care was not significantly related to alcohol consumption. This study offers new insights to the relationship between parental bonding and alcohol use. Demonstrating that low parental overprotection does predict alcohol use while parental care does not. Further research should take sociability of participants and gender differences into account.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
closed access
Background: about 5% of children experience childhood parental death, which has been associated with a higher risk for developing insecure attachment styles in adulthood. However, some people...Show moreBackground: about 5% of children experience childhood parental death, which has been associated with a higher risk for developing insecure attachment styles in adulthood. However, some people suffer more long-term consequences compared to others, even within the same family. Which factors play a role in the differential experiences following childhood parental death, even between siblings, who experienced the same objective life event? Objective: In the current study, we aimed to investigate the association between childhood parental death and adult attachment, and the role of parental bonding with each parent in this association. We also investigated this in a sibling-context, where we studied parental bonding as a family-wide and an individual factor. Design: 819 participants, aged between 25 and 45 years old, took part in this cross-sectional between-subject study. Questionnaires were administered to obtain information about parental bonding and adult attachment. The study included two parts, where in the first part the hypotheses were investigated in the main sample (i.e., a sample of nonrelated individuals), an in the second part in the sibling sample (i.e., a sample of sibling dyads and triads). Results: Both avoidant and anxiety attachment were more present in the target group compared to the control group in the main sample, but not in the sibling sample. Stronger maternal and paternal bonding were related to less insecure attachment in adulthood in the control group of the main sample, but no associations between bonding with the surviving and deceased parent were found the target group of the main sample. Stronger family-wide and individual maternal bonding were related to less avoidance attachment in the control group of the sibling sample, but not to anxiety attachment. In the target group of the sibling sample, stronger family-wide bonding with the surviving parent was related to less avoidance attachment and stronger family-wide bonding with the deceased parent was related to less anxiety attachment. Conclusion: Childhood parental death appears to be related to more insecure attachment in adulthood. The role of parental bonding seems to be different depending upon whether childhood parental death has been experienced. Within siblings, both familywide parental bonding and individual specific bonding seem to have individual effects on adult attachment, suggesting that including individual and family-wide experiences might shed light upon more complex processes of bonding and attachment formation within families. However, further research is needed to replicate these findings before conclusions can be drawn.Show less
For the healthy development of a child parental bonding plays a crucial role. However, parental overprotection can be seen as a risk factor in the development of social anxiety. Moreover, how you...Show moreFor the healthy development of a child parental bonding plays a crucial role. However, parental overprotection can be seen as a risk factor in the development of social anxiety. Moreover, how you learn from and process feedback can be seen as an important factor in the development of social anxiety. Because social anxiety has a huge impact on daily life, it is important to investigate its underlying mechanisms and risk factors. The goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between parental overprotection and feedback learning with social anxiety as a mediating factor. Participants (N = 118) performed the SELF-symbol paradigm, a well-validated probabilistic learning task. This task examined the degree to which participants learned better from negative versus positive feedback. Social anxiety was measured using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and overprotection was measured using the Parental Bonding Instrument. No significant relationships were found between parental overprotection and feedback learning, parental overprotection and social anxiety, and social anxiety and feedback learning. Furthermore, we can assume no mediation of social anxiety in the relationship between parental overprotection and feedback learning did occur. The present study is a start in further research on the underlying mechanisms between parental overprotection, feedback learning and social anxiety while taking into account the limitations of the current research.Show less
The quality of early relationships is thought to form the basis of maintaining mental well-being later in life. The aim of this study was to examine the role of parental bonding, loneliness and...Show moreThe quality of early relationships is thought to form the basis of maintaining mental well-being later in life. The aim of this study was to examine the role of parental bonding, loneliness and hopelessness in the development of PTSD symptomatology in a young adult sample. Participants who study at Leiden University was asked to fill-out questionnaires about parental bonding, loneliness, hopelessness and PTSD. According to participants’ scores on parental bonding inventory (PBI), they were assigned either to secure or insecure attachment groups. A mediation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between parental bonding and PTSD symptomatology by coding hopelessness and loneliness as potential mediators in this relationship. The results revealed that insecure attachment was associated with higher levels of hopelessness, loneliness and PTSD symptomatology whereas secure attachment was associated with lower levels of hopelessness, loneliness and PTSD symptomatology. Furthermore, loneliness and hopelessness mediated the relationship between parental bonding and PTSD symptomatology. These findings could help in identifying individuals who are more or less vulnerable to develop trauma-related symptoms after a traumatic or an adverse situation.Show less
