The importance of attachment to fathers in Latinx mental health

The impact of attachment to fathers on mental health in Latinx communities is understudied and not fully understood, though extant research focusing on maternal attachment forms a solid base of knowledge regarding the importance of attachment (to mothers) on mental health. The broad aim of this study was to examine the importance of paternal attachment in relation to maternal attachment on mental health in Latinx young adults. The current study used two large, young adult samples: one collected in Latin America ( n = 774) and one collected in the United States ( n = 1084). We hypothesized that paternal attachment would be a significant predictor of internalizing (emotional symptoms), externalizing (hyperactivity, conduct problems), and interpersonal (social problems, prosocial behavior) functioning beyond maternal attachment. Exploratory analyses examined whether paternal communication, trust, or feelings of alienation, three established facets of attachment, differentially related to mental health outcomes. Findings broadly supported hypotheses, as attachment to fathers made a significant, incremental contribution to all outcome variables. Further, paternal alienation emerged as a potent potential risk factor, while paternal trust emerged as a potential protective factor for mental health outcomes in these samples. This study is the first to endeavor to understand the links between paternal attachment and mental health beyond maternal attachment in two distinct samples with varying immigration statuses, countries of residence, and cultural norms and has important implications for working with Latinx populations from a clinical, assessment, and research standpoint.

FATHER BONDING AND BULLYING IN CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES / VÄTERLICHE BINDUNG UND BULLING IN KINDERN MIT BEHINDERUNGEN

<p>In recent years, school bullying has been on the rise, but it is not a new phenomenon. While bullying at school is not a recent phenomenon, it has received a great deal of scientific attention over the last three decades. School bullying is now a prevalent phenomenon around the world and transcends socio-economic, racial and cultural boundaries. At the same time, the father-child relationship is very important, because it contributes to the formation of the child's personality. The main purpose of this research is to investigate whether father attachment makes people with disabilities, such as blindness, deafness and motor disability, but also without disabilities, perpetrators or victims of school bullying and the effect of demographic characteristics on the sample. The sample consists of 170 people aged 10-21 years who live in Greece. The study involved 36 people with blindness, 38 people with deafness, 50 people with motor disabilities and 50 people without disabilities. The results highlighted the pretty important relationship between paternal attachment and school bullying in the various groups of the sample and also showed that father care and father protection are predicting factors of their behaviors. The present research effort complements the research of Charmpatsis et al. (2021) on maternal attachment and bullying and focuses mainly on paternal attachment and bullying.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0914/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

A Cross-Cultural Study on Attachment and Adjustment Difficulties in Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Self-Control in Italy, Spain, China, and Poland

From a socio-ecological perspective, individuals are influenced by the interplay of individual, relational, and societal factors operating as a broader system. Thereby, to support youth adjustment during the critical adolescence period, the interplay between these factors should be investigated. This study aimed to investigate cross-cultural differences in adolescents’ maternal and paternal attachment, adolescents’ adjustment difficulties and self-control, and in their association. N = 1000 adolescents (mean (M) age = 16.94, SD = 0.48; 45.90% males) from China, Italy, Spain, and Poland participated by completing self-report measures. Results showed cross-country similarities and differences among the considered variables and their associative pattern. Moreover, conditional process analysis evaluating the association between maternal vs. paternal attachment and adjustment difficulties, mediated by self-control, and moderated by country, was performed. Maternal attachment directly, and indirectly through greater self-control, influenced adjustment difficulties in all four countries. This association was stronger among Spaniards. Paternal attachment influenced directly, and indirectly through self-control, on adolescents’ adjustment difficulties only in Italy, Spain, and Poland, and was stronger among Polish adolescents. For Chinese adolescents, paternal attachment solely associated with adjustment difficulties when mediated by self-control. Thus, results highlighted both similarities and differences across countries in the interplay between maternal vs. paternal attachment and self-control on adolescents’ adjustment difficulties. Implications are discussed.

The Overlap Between Teen Dating Violent Offending and Violent Victimization

Teen dating violence (TDV) affects both males and females, and the negative consequences associated with such violence last into adulthood. This study had three objectives: (a) determine the extent of overlap in TDV offending and TDV victimization, (b) test whether social ties explain the TDV overlap, and (c) assess whether the effects of social ties on teen dating violence are invariant between sexes. This study used data from the 2018 Arizona Youth Study ( N = 5,189). The findings confirmed that TDV overlap exists. In addition, social ties appeared to partially explain this overlap. Finally, some social ties appeared more general, predicting TDV for both sexes, whereas others were not. For instance, Paternal Attachment was found to reduce the probability of dating violence among female participants only. The findings lend support to prevention programs that aim to strengthen ties between parents and teens.

Parental Attachment and Problematic Internet Use among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender and Grit

Problematic Internet use (PIU) is currently becoming a more serious public health concern, representing a deleterious effect on adolescent adaptive emotional and behavioral patterns. Given the prevalence of PIU and its deleterious impact on adolescents’ optimal functioning, it is valuable to investigate the risk and protective factors of PIU. Guided by a socio-ecological framework, the current study examines the associations of paternal attachment and maternal attachment with PIU among Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, this study investigates whether adolescents’ gender and grit moderate this association. A total of 2677 Chinese adolescents (56.5% girls; Mage = 15.56; SD = 1.57) was involved in this study. Adolescents were uniformly instructed to complete a battery of self-reported questionnaires. The results of linear regression analyses showed that paternal attachment and maternal attachment security were negatively related to PIU. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that higher levels of grit buffered against boys’ PIU in the context of paternal attachment security and girls’ PIU in the context of paternal attachment insecurity. The current study suggests that parental attachment security plays an important role in mitigating the likelihood of Chinese adolescents’ PIU. Moreover, the buffering role of grit in PIU varies by the levels of paternal attachment security, depending on the adolescents’ gender.

Factors Affecting Paternal Fetal Attachment

AIMThere are very few studies examining how the prenatal attachment of the father to the fetus affects father–infant attachment, while there are numerous studies on maternal–fetal, maternal–infant attachment. The pregnancy period is a potential opportunity to increase the paternal attachment of fathers whose wives are expecting a baby. The aim of this study was to determine paternal–fetal attachment and the factors with an effect.METHODSThe sample group of this descriptive (comparative) study consisted of expectant fathers accompanied by their wives at 24–36 weeks of pregnancy (n = 182). Ethics committee approval and the necessary permissions were obtained from the relevant institution. The data were collected by the researchers using the Question Form and Paternal Fetal Attachment Scale. The data collected were analyzed using percentage distribution, the Independent samples t test and the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.RESULTSThe results of the study showed that the participants who experienced fatherhood for the first time and felt ready to be a father had higher paternal attachment scores than experienced fathers.CONCLUSIONFor the establishment of healthy attachment starting in the prenatal period and continuing thereafter, there are important tasks for healthcare professionals to ensure that fathers can cope with the new roles and responsibilities just as well as the mothers.

February 2020 issue – The Bridge attachment edition

This edition of The Bridge features paternal attachment, early caregiving, disinhibited social engagement behaviour, adolescent security and a parent's perspective on attachment and adoption.