Abstract
Many studies have reported a relationship between recognition of parental child-rearing attitudes and children's attachment, and between attachment and children's social adjustment. This study tested the model that internal working models of attachment mediate the relationship between recognition of parental child-rearing attitudes and social adjustment. A questionnaire research was conducted on 191 undergraduate students. The results revealed that participants who felt their maternal care had been deficient showed highly avoidant attachment, while those who felt overprotected by their mother showed highly anxious attachment. In addition, higher “anxiety” resulted in lower self-esteem (an index of intrapersonal adjustment) and higher “avoidance of being injured” (an index of interpersonal adjustment), while higher “avoidance” resulted in lower self-esteem and higher “surficial relationship” and “avoidance of being injured” (indices of interpersonal adjustment). In sum, these data indicate that negative recognition of parental child-rearing attitudes led to insecure attachment, and that insecure attachment led to social adjustment difficulties.
