Abstract
Self-control theory proposes that weak emotional bonds with caregivers are key in the lack of self-control development, that in turn increases the likelihood of externalizing and deviant behaviors. Guided by this theory, the present study tested a mediation model, namely the relationships among adolescent attachment to both parents, self-control, and externalizing behaviors (as measured in aggression and rule-breaking). Moreover, it tested the extent to which this mediation model differed by age, and it compared the relative salience of attachment to mothers versus fathers. Seven hundred and five Chinese adolescents between 13 to 17 years old (353 boys, mean age = 15.02 years) provided self-report data on their attachment to fathers and mothers, self-control, aggression, and rule-breaking behaviors. Mediation model tests showed that attachment to both mothers and fathers were negatively related to aggression and rule-breaking behaviors via self-control. Moderation model tests showed that age moderated the link between attachment to fathers, but not to mothers, and adolescent self-control, with significant effects of attachment on self-control for younger adolescents. Study findings show that although attachment to both mothers and to fathers are important for adolescent self-control, their respective effects differ across developmental periods.
Highlight
-
The relationships among attachment to parents, self-control, and externalizing behavior were tested among Chinese adolescents.
-
Maternal and paternal attachment was linked to self-control, which was further associated with adolescent aggression and rule-breaking behaviors.
-
The association between paternal attachment and self-control was only significant for younger but not for older adolescents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the youth self-report and 1991 profile. Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
Allen, J. P., Porter, M., McFarland, C., McElhaney, K. B., & Marsh, P. (2007). The relation of attachment security to adolescents’ paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior. Child Development, 78(4), 1222–1239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01062.x.
Allen, J. P., & Land, D. (1999). Attachment in adolescence. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 319–335). Guilford Press.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. http://www.apa.org/ethics/code.
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1989). Inventory of parent and peer attachment (IPPA). University of Washington.
Bobbio, A., Arbach, K., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2019). Self-control and deviance: a test of the general theory of crime in Argentina. Victims & Offenders, 14(1), 119–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2018.1552222.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Hogarth Press.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. Basic Books.
Bretherton, I., & Munholland, K. A. (1999). Internal working models in attachment relationships: a construct revisited. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds,), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 89–111). Guilford Press.
Bretherton, I., & Munholland, K. A. (2008). Internal working models in attachment relationships: Elaborating a central construct in attachment theory. Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications, (pp. 102–127). Guilford Press.
Brook, D. W., Brook, J. S., Rubenstone, E., Zhang, C., & Saar, N. S. (2011). Developmental associations between externalizing behaviors, peer delinquency, drug use, perceived neighborhood crime, and violent behavior in urban communities. Aggressive Behavior, 37(4), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20397.
Burt, S. A. (2009). Are there meaningful etiological differences within antisocial behavior? Results of a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(2), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2008.12.004.
Burt, S. A. (2012). How do we optimally conceptualize the heterogeneity within antisocial behavior? An argument for aggressive versus non-aggressive behavioral dimensions. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(4), 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.02.006.
Cheah, C., & Rubin, K. (2004). European American and Mainland Chinese mothers’ responses to aggression and social withdrawal in preschoolers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250344000299.
Cheung, N. W. T., & Cheung, Y. W. (2010). Strain, self-control, and gender differences in delinquency among Chinese adolescents: extending general strain theory. Sociological Perspectives, 53(3), 321–345. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2010.53.3.321.
Dawson, A. E., Allen, J. P., Marston, E. G., Hafen, C. A., & Schad, M. M. (2014). Adolescent insecure attachment as a predictor of maladaptive coping and externalizing behaviors in emerging adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 16(5), 462–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2014.934848.
Van der Ende, J., Verhulst, F. C., & Tiemeier, H. (2016). The bidirectional pathways between internalizing and externalizing problems and academic performance from 6 to 18 years. Development and Psychopathology, 28(3), 855–867. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416000353.
Esch, P., Bocquet, V., Pull, C., Couffignal, S., Lehnert, T., Graas, M., Fond-Harmant, L., & Ansseau, M. (2014). The downward spiral of mental disorders and educational attainment: a systematic review on early school leaving. BMC Psychiatry, 14(1), 237–249. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-014-0237-4.
Gottfredson, T. M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.
Greenberg, M. T., Speltz, M. L., & Deklyen, M. (1993). The role of attachment in the early development of disruptive behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 191–213. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457940000434X.
Jeynes, W. H. (2015). A meta-analysis: the relationship between father involvement and student academic achievement. Urban Education, 50(4), 387–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914525789.
Jeynes, W. (2011). Parental Involvement & Academic Success. Taylor & Francis/Routledge.
Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36(3), 366–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.3.366.
Kochanska, G., Aksan, N., & Koenig, A. L. (1995). A longitudinal study of the roots of preschoolers’ conscience: committed compliance and emerging internalization. Child Development, 66(6), 1752–1769. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.ep9601152100.
Kopp, C. B. (1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: a developmental perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18(2), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.2.199.
Lam, C. B., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Parent–child shared time from middle childhood to late adolescence: developmental course and adjustment correlates. Child Development, 83(6), 2089–2103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01826.x.
Larson, R. W., Richards, M. H., Moneta, G., Holmbeck, G., & Duckett, E. (1996). Changes in adolescents’ daily interactions with their families from ages 10 to 18: disengagement and transformation. Developmental Psychology, 32(4), 744–754. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.32.4.744.
Li, J. B., T. Vazsonyi, A., & Dou, K. (2018). Is individualism-collectivism associated with self-control? Evidence from Chinese and US samples. PloS ONE, 13(12), e0208541 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208541.
Li, J. B., Liberska, H., Salcuni, S., & Delvecchio, E. (2019). Aggressive perpetration and victimization among Polish male and female adolescents: the role of attachment to parents and self-control. Crime & Delinquency, 65(3), 401–421. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128718787472.
Li, J. B., Guo, Y. J., Delvecchio, E., & Mazzeschi, C. (2020). Chinese adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment: the contribution of mothers’ attachment style and adolescents’ attachment to mother. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(8–9), 2597–2619. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520932667.
Li, J. B., Delvecchio, E., Lis, A., Nie, Y. G., & Di Riso, D. (2015). Parental attachment, self-control, and depressive symptoms in Chinese and Italian adolescents: test of a mediation model. Journal of Adolescence, 43, 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.06.006.
Li, J. B., Willems, Y. E., Stok, F. M., Deković, M., Bartels, M., & Finkenauer, C. (2019). Parenting and self-control across early to late adolescence: a three-level meta-analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 967–1005. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619863046.
Li, J. B., Dou, K., Situ, Q. M., Salcuni, S., Wang, Y. J., & Friese, M. (2019). Anger rumination partly accounts for the association between trait self-control and aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 81, 207–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2019.06.011.
McDonald, R. P. (1999). Test theory: a unified treatment. Lawrence Erlbaum.
McDonald, R. P. (2014). Factor analysis and related methods. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Miller, H. V., Jennings, W. G., Alvarez-Rivera, L. L., & Lanza-Kaduce, L. (2009). Self-control, attachment, and deviance among Hispanic adolescents. Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(1), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.12.003.
Nie, Y. G., Li, J. B., Dou, K., & Situ, Q. M. (2014). The associations between self-consciousness and internalizing/externalizing problems among Chinese adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 37(5), 505–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.04.002.
Özdemir, Y., Vazsonyi, A. T., & Çok, F. (2013). Parenting processes and aggression: the role of self-control among Turkish adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 36(1), 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.09.004.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879.
Revelle, W., & Zinbarg, R. E. (2009). Coefficients alpha, beta, omega, and the glb: Comments on Sijtsma. Psychometrika, 74(1), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-008-9102-z.
Sameroff, A. (2010). A unified theory of development: a dialectic integration of nature and nurture. Child Development, 81(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01378.x.
Savage, J. (2014). The association between attachment, parental bonds and physically aggressive and violent behavior: a comprehensive review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(2), 164–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.02.004.
Sijtsma, K. (2009). On the use, the misuse, and the very limited usefulness of Cronbach’s alpha. Psychometrika, 74(1), 107-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11336-008-9101-010.1007/S11336-008-9101-0..
Stadler, S. (2011). Intercultural communication and East-Asian politeness. In S. Mills & D. Kadar (Eds.), Politeness in East Asia (pp. 98–124). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977886.007.
Stride, C.B., Gardner, S.E., Catley, N. & Thomas, F. (2015). Mplus code for mediation, moderation and moderated mediation models. (Mplus examples and code). http://www.offbeat.group.shef.ac.uk/FIO/models_and_index.pdf.
Tan, Z. W., & Chang, F. M. (2013). The study of relationships among attachment, low self-control, and juvenile delinquency. Chinese Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 36, 67–90. https://doi.org/10.7082/CJGC.
Tehrani, H. D., & Yamini, S. (2020). Parenting practices, self-control and anti-social behaviors: meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Journal of Criminal Justice, 68, 101687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2020.101687.
Tittle, C. R., Ward, D. A., & Grasmick, H. G. (2003). Gender, age, and crime/deviance: a challenge to self-control theory. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(4), 426–453. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427803256074.
Triandis, H. C. (2001). Individualism‐collectivism and personality. Journal of Personality, 69(6), 907–924. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.696169.
VandenBos, G. R. (2007). APA dictionary of psychology. American Psychological Association.
Vazsonyi, A. T. (2004). Parent-adolescent relations and problem behaviors: Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Marriage & Family Review, 35(3–4), 161–187. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v35n03_09.
Vazsonyi, A. T., & Flannery, D. J. (1997). Early adolescent delinquent behaviors: associations with family and school domains. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 17(3), 271–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431697017003002.
Vazsonyi, A. T., & Belliston, L. M. (2007). The family→ low self-control→ deviance: a cross-cultural and cross-national test of self-control theory. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(4), 505–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854806292299.
Vazsonyi, A. T., & Huang, L. (2010). Where self-control comes from: on the development of self-control and its relationship to deviance over time. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016538.
Vazsonyi, A. T., & Javakhishvili, M. (2019a). The role of infant socialization and self-control in understanding reactive-overt and relational aggression: a 15-year study. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 49, 101316 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.07.011.
Vazsonyi, A. T., Mikuška, J., & Kelley, E. L. (2017). It’s time: a meta-analysis on the self-control-deviance link. Journal of Criminal Justice, 48, 48–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.10.001.
Vazsonyi A. T., & Javakhishvili M. (2019b) Infant socialization and the development of self-control: filling in the gap. In: Oleson JC, Costello BJ (Eds) Fifty years of causes of delinquency: the criminology of Travis Hirschi (pp. 239–256). Routledge.
Weinfield, N. S., Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. (2008). Individual differences in infant-caregiver attachment: conceptual and empirical aspects of security. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 78–101). The Guilford Press.
You, S., & Kim, A. Y. (2016). Understanding aggression through attachment and social emotional competence in Korean middle school students. School Psychology International, 37(3), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034316631039.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sun, Y., Li, JB., Oktaufik, M.P.M. et al. Parental Attachment and Externalizing Behaviors among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Self-Control. J Child Fam Stud 31, 923–933 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02071-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02071-6