Romantic and parental attachment, psychosocial risk, and personal agency in emerging adulthood

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110423
Author(s):  
Filipa Nunes ◽  
Paula Mena Matos ◽  
Tiago Ferreira ◽  
Catarina Pinheiro Mota
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Parental Attachment ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Psychosocial Risk ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
Individual Capacity

This study focuses on emerging adults’ personal agency, an individual feature associated with enhanced adaptive and resilient developmental trajectories. The two objectives were to explore the role of demographic, psychosocial risk, and relational factors in predicting personal agency and analyze whether romantic attachment mediates the connection between parental attachment and personal agency. The sample consisted of 607 Portuguese emerging adults aged between 18 and 30 years. Structural equation modeling results suggest that men are more likely to exhibit higher levels of personal agency than women. Trustful romantic relations and good paternal emotional bonds are associated with greater personal agency, while dependent romantic relations and maternal relations, characterized by inhibition of exploration, are associated with lower personal agency. Moreover, in romantic relations, trust, unlike dependence, partially mediates the association between parental attachment and personal agency. These findings are discussed based on attachment and self-determination theories, considering the importance of secure relationships for agency and autonomy in personal actions. This study provides important evidence for the influencers and mediators of personal agency, contributing to a better understanding of this individual capacity.

scholarly journals Attachment, Emotion Regulation and Coping in Portuguese Emerging Adults: A Test of a Mediation Hypothesis

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1000-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Cabral ◽  
Paula M. Matos ◽  
Wim Beyers ◽  
Bart Soenens
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Parental Attachment ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
Regulation Mechanisms ◽  
And Coping

Although the quality of parent-adolescent emotional bonds has consistently been proposed as a major influence on young adult's psycho-emotional functioning, the precise means by which these bonds either facilitate or impede adaptive coping are not well-understood. In an effort to advance this inquiry, the present study examined interrelationships among measures of parental attachment, emotion regulation processes, and preferred coping strategies within a sample of 942 college freshmen. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test whether the link between attachment to parents and the use of particular coping strategies is mediated by differences in emotion regulation mechanisms. As hypothesized, differences in attachment to parents predicted differences in the use of emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. More specifically, having a close emotional bond, feeling supported in autonomy processes and having (moderately) low levels of separation anxiety toward parents predict more constructive emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. Additionally emotion regulation was found to (partly or totally) mediate the association between attachment and coping.

scholarly journals Can Supportive Siblings Protect against the Risk that Stress from Feelings of Alienation with Parents and Peers Poses to Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood?

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2199385
Author(s):  
Muna Osman ◽  
Dave Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Two Samples

Feelings of alienation with parents and peers can lead to psychological distress, possibly because such feelings are stressful. Supportive siblings are known to foster mental health in youth, but research in emerging adulthood is limited. We hypothesized supportive sibling climate as a protective factor in the risks that stress from parent and peer alienation poses to psychological distress among emerging adults. A proposed moderated-mediation model was tested, across three samples, using latent moderated mediation structural equation modeling. Results indicated that parental and peer alienation were associated with more psychological distress, and stress partially mediated the link between parental (but not peer) alienation and psychological distress in two samples. However, a supportive sibling climate was not protective as it did not moderate the links among alienation, stress, and psychological distress. In sum, siblings seem beneficial, but perhaps it is not sufficient to protect emerging adults’ mental health against stress from parent and peer alienation.

Family Interaction and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Emerging Adults: A Mediation Model of Gratitude

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110006
Author(s):  
Kelly Ka Lai Lam ◽  
Wei-Wen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Family Interaction ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
Healthy Family

In this study, we investigated the relations between family interaction, gratitude, and depressive symptoms among Chinese emerging adults. It also investigated gratitude as a mediator in the relation between family interaction and depression. Data were obtained from 321 college students who completed the online questionnaire about the Family Assessment Instrument, Gratitude Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire, and demographic information. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test hypotheses and bootstrapping with 5,000 resamplings (95% confidence interval) was used to confirm the mediation model. Results showed that gratitude partially mediated the relation between family interaction and depression. In other words, students with healthy family interaction, as indicated by perceived better family communication, mutuality, and harmony with family members, tended to report higher general gratitude, and subsequently diminished depressive symptoms. The practical implications were discussed.

scholarly journals Are perceptions of grandparenthood related to family and life satisfaction? A study with emerging adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752098115
Author(s):  
Isabel Miguel ◽  
Alexandra M. Araújo ◽  
Sandra Fernandes ◽  
Luísa Carneiro ◽  
Paula Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Family Satisfaction ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Adult Grandchildren

Given the crucial role that grandparents play in the upbringing and well-being of their grandchildren, research regarding the perceived importance of grandparents for their emerging adult grandchildren is of particular relevance. This study examined the relations between perceived grandparents’ roles and family and life satisfaction in Portuguese emerging adults. Participants (N = 387), aged 18–25, completed a structured self-report questionnaire. Findings of structural equation modeling showed that emerging adults’ perceptions of grandparental roles of counselor, enjoying the relationship, and indulgence are positively related to their family and life satisfaction. The mediation analysis showed that family satisfaction mediated the relation between perceptions of grandparents acting as counselors and the life satisfaction of emerging adult grandchildren. Implications of family relationships and grandparenting in the context of emerging adulthood are discussed.

scholarly journals A cascade model connecting life stress to risk behavior among rural African American emerging adults

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 667-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene H. Brody ◽  
Yi-Fu Chen ◽  
Steven M. Kogan
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Risk Behavior ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Cascade Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Deviant Peers ◽  
Increases In Risk

AbstractA three-wave cascade model linking life stress to increases in risk behavior was tested with 347 African American emerging adults living in the rural South. Data analyses using structural equation modeling and latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that life stress was linked to increases in risk behavior as African Americans transitioned out of secondary school. The cascade model indicated that life stress fostered increases in negative emotions. Negative emotions, in turn, were linked to increases in affiliations with deviant peers and romantic partners; this forecast increases in risk behavior. The findings supported a stress proliferation framework, in which primary stressors affect increases in secondary stressors that carry forward to influence changes in risk behaviors that can potentially compromise mental health.

Stepfamily Closeness and Depression Among American Indian Emerging Adults: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin P. Ward ◽  
Gordon E. Limb ◽  
Sarah Higbee ◽  
Helena Haueter
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Biological Parent ◽  
Parent Child

Stepfamilies are one of the fastest growing family structures among all racial groups in the United States. Stepfamily research among many racial groups, specifically American Indians, is virtually nonexistent. This is unfortunate, as American Indians are more likely to divorce and remarry compared with other populations. From a family systems perspective, this study examined whether retrospectively perceived closeness in three stepfamily relationships, namely child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling, were negatively associated with depression scores in 226 American Indian emerging adults. A structural equation model showed that increased child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling closeness predicted decreased depression scores, whereas child–residential stepparent closeness did not. We also found that depression scores significantly predicted retrospective perceptions of child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling closeness. Findings encourage interventions that strengthen American Indian child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling relationships, and underscore the need for further research that explores American Indian stepfamily relationships.

Compliance, negotiation, and self-assertion in Japanese adolescents' disagreements with parents

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazumi Sugimura ◽  
Mizuki Yamazaki ◽  
Jean S. Phinney ◽  
Kazuko Takeo
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Adolescent Development ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
Japanese Adolescents ◽  
The Family ◽  
Adolescent Parent ◽  
Parent Relationship ◽  
Common Action

This study examined the ways in which Japanese adolescents handle disagreements with parents, and the extent to which the cultural values of emotional bonds within the family predict adolescents' reported handling of disagreements. Adolescents ( N = 1029), aged 12 to 25 years, reported their projected actions in response to six hypothetical adolescent—parent disagreements, and completed a scale of values of emotional bonds in the family. As hypothesized, self-assertion was the most common action, followed by negotiation and compliance. Although generally self-assertion and negotiation were higher and compliance lower with increasing age, adolescents' actions also varied depending on the situation. The values of emotional bonds predicted adolescents' reported handling of disagreements, as examined using structural equation modeling. Implications of these findings for the adolescent—parent relationship and adolescent development in Japanese cultural contexts are discussed.

Ambivalent Sexism and Reported Relationship Qualities in Emerging Adult Heterosexual Dating Couples

2020 ◽  
pp. 216769682093468
Author(s):  
Campbell Leaper ◽  
Brenda C. Gutierrez ◽  
Timea Farkas
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Ambivalent Sexism ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Relationship Qualities ◽  
Dating Couples

We investigated the relations between the endorsement of ambivalent sexism and relationship qualities in heterosexual romantic couples during emerging adulthood. The sample included 94 heterosexual emerging adult dating couples attending a public university ( M age = 21 years; 39% White, 25% Latinx, 11% Asian, and 18% Other). Each partner separately completed survey measures of ambivalent sexism and perceived relationship satisfaction and conflict. Dyadic analyses were performed using structural equation modeling. Results indicated men’s hostile sexism predicted lower satisfaction and more conflict for men and their partners, whereas men’s benevolent sexism (BS) predicted more satisfaction and lower conflict for men and their partners. Women’s BS was negatively related to the length of the couple’s relationship. The results are discussed in relation to ways that ambivalent sexism may affect the dating relationships of many emerging adults in college settings and how these effects may change over time in relationships and at later life stages.

Coping as a Mediator Between Parental Attachment and Resilience: An Examination of Differential Effects Between Chinese Adolescents From Single Parent Families Versus Those From Intact Families

2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 506-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiamei Guo
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Parental Attachment ◽  
Single Parent ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
Maternal Attachment ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intact Families ◽  
Single Parent Families

The crude divorce rate has been increasing steadily for over a decade in China. Consequently, more and more children have to face the challenge of growing up in single parent families. The current study investigated the mediating effects of problem-oriented and emotion-oriented coping on the relationship between parental attachment and psychological resilience among a sample of Chinese adolescents from single parent families and intact families. Participants were 975 high school students (44.30% males; aged 15–19 years, M = 16.32 years, SD = 0.74), 871 from intact families and 104 from single parent families. Structural equation modeling showed that security in maternal attachment was positively associated with resilience through the indirect effect of reduced emotion-oriented coping among adolescents from single parent families. Among adolescents from intact families, security in maternal attachment was both directly associated with resilience and indirectly through enhanced problem-oriented and reduced emotion-oriented coping. Security in paternal attachment was associated with resilience both directly and indirectly through enhanced problem-oriented coping as well among those from intact families. Female adolescents exhibited significantly lower levels of resilience than male adolescents did regardless of the marital status of their parents. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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