Abstract
The development of secure romantic relationships is an important developmental task for many emerging adults. Emerging adults who report more secure romantic attachments also report greater overall life satisfaction. The goal of the current study was to identify family-of-origin predictors of romantic attachment styles among emerging adults. College students (n = 288) completed measures of parental psychological control, early maladaptive schemas, and anxious and avoidant romantic attachment. Findings supported a theoretical mediation model where parental psychological control was related to higher rates of anxious and avoidant romantic attachment, and this relationship was mediated by early maladaptive schemas. These findings indicate the importance of considering family-of-origin patterns when examining romantic attachment in emerging adults. Therapists and other helpers may be better able to support the development of secure romantic attachment by also addressing maladaptive schemas that may impact romantic relationship development.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data may be obtained from the corresponding author.
References
Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Bach, B., Lockwood, G., & Young, J. E. (2018). A new look at the schema therapy model: Organization and role of early maladaptive schemas. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 47(4), 328–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2017.1410566
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67(6), 3296–3319. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131780
Barber, B. K., Stolz, H. E., & Olsen, J. A. (2005). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioral control: Assessing relevance across time, culture, and method: III US sample and measures. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 70(4), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5834.2005.00367.x
Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 226–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.2.226
Basso, L. A., Fortes, A. B., Pacheco e Maia, C., Steinhorst, E., & Wainer, R. (2019). The effects of parental rearing styles and early maladaptive schemas in the development of personality: A systematic review. Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 41, 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1590/2237-6089-2017-0118
Baumgardner, M., & Boyatzis, C. J. (2018). The role of parental psychological control and warmth in college students’ relational aggression and friendship quality. Emerging Adulthood, 6(1), 72–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696817712809
Beyarslan, S. D., & Uzer, T. (2020). Psychological control and indulgent parenting predict emotional-abuse victimization in romantic relationships. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01072-w
Choe, S. Y., Lee, J. O., & Read, S. J. (2021). Parental psychological control perceived in adolescence predicts jealousy toward romantic partners in emerging adulthood via insecure attachment. Social Development, 30(4), 1040–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12514
Crawford, E., & Wright, M. O. (2007). The impact of childhood psychological maltreatment on interpersonal schemas and subsequent experiences of relational aggression. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7(2), 93–116. https://doi.org/10.1300/J135v07n02_06
Creveling-Benefield, C. C., & Varela, R. E. (2019). Parental psychological control, maladaptive schemas, and childhood anxiety: Test of a developmental model. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(1), 2159–2171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01434-4
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115(1), 74–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.115.1.74
Cudo, A., Dobosz, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Kuss, D. J. (2022). The relationship between early maladaptive schemas, depression, anxiety, and problematic gaming among female and male gamers. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00858-2
D’Rozario, A. B., & Pilkington, P. D. (2021). Parental separation or divorce and adulthood attachment: The mediating role of the Abandonment schema. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29(2), 664–675. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2659
Diez, M., Sánchez-Queija, I., & Parra, A. (2019). Why are undergraduate emerging adults anxious and avoidant in their romantic relationships? The role of family relationships. Plos One, 14(11), e0224159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224159
Dodge, K. A., Bai, Y., Godwin, J., Lansford, J. E., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., & Jones, D. E. (2022). Defensive mindset: A pattern of social information processing that develops early and predicts life course outcomes. Child Development, 93(4), e357–e378. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13751
Doyle, A. B., & Markiewicz, D. (2005). Parenting, marital conflict, and adjustment from early- to mid-adolescence: Mediated by adolescent attachment style? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(2), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-3209-7
Faherty, A. N., Lowe, K., & Arnett, J. J. (2020). Mind games: Parental psychological control and emerging adults’ adjustment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(2), 695–714. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519877240
Forehand, R., & Jones, D. J. (2002). The stability of parenting: A longitudinal analysis of inner-city African-American mothers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 11(4), 469–483. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020935525335
Fraley, R. C., Hudson, N. W., Heffernan, M. E., & Segal, N. (2015). Are adult attachment styles categorical or dimensional? A taxometric analysis of general and relationship-specific attachment orientations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(2), 354–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000027
Gay, L. E., Harding, H. G., Jackson, J. L., Burns, E. E., & Baker, B. D. (2013). Attachment style and early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and intimate partner violence. Journal of Aggression Maltreatment & Trauma, 22(4), 408–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2013.775982
Gong, X., & Wang, C. (2021). Interactive effects of parental psychological control and autonomy support on emerging adults’ emotion regulation and self-esteem. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01483-3
Güngor, D., & Bornstein, D. H. (2010). Culturally-general and -specific associations of attachment avoidance and anxiety with perceived parental warmth and psychological control among Turk and Belgian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 33(5), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.12.005
Hassija, C. M., Robinson, D., Silva, Y., & Lewin, M. R. (2018). Dysfunctional parenting and intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization among college women: The mediating role of schemas. Journal of Family Violence, 33(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-017-9942-3
Haugh, J. A., Miceli, M., & DeLorme, J. (2017). Maladaptive parenting, temperament, early maladaptive schemas, and depression: A moderated mediation analysis. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 39(1), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9559-5
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.3.511
Karantzas, G. C., Younan, R., & Pilkington, P. D. (2023). The association between early maladaptive schemas and adult attachment styles: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 30(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000108
King, A. A., Russon, J. M., Mensinger, J. L., & Jin, B. (2022). Parental psychological control, attachment insecurity and body shame: How relational factors impact disordered eating. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31(1), 2545–2555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02374-2
Kriston, L., Schäfer, J., von Wolff, A., Härter, M., & Hölzel, L. P. (2012). The latent factor structure of young’s early maladaptive schemas: Are schemas organized into domains? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 68(6), 684–698. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21846
Lewin, M. R., Garcia, L. M., Limon, A. M., & Ojeda, A. (2015). Dysfunctional parenting and depression: The mediational role of schemas. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 6(1), 2–12. https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.035513
Mącik, D. (2021). Temperament, parenting styles and the intensity of early maladaptive schemas: Assessment of correlations in a non-clinical adult group. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 49(2), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465820000831
McLean, H. R., Bailey, H. N., & Lumley, M. N. (2014). The secure base script: Associated with early maladaptive schemas related to attachment. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice, 87(4), 425–466. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12025
Meneguzzo, P., Collantoni, E., Bonello, E., Busetto, P., Tenconi, E., & Favaro, A. (2020). The predictive value of the early maladaptive schemas in social situations in anorexia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review, 28(3), 318–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2724
Messman-Moore, T. L., & Coates, A. A. (2007). The impact of childhood psychological abuse on adult interpersonal conflict: The role of early maladaptive schemas and patterns of interpersonal behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7(2), 75–92. https://doi.org/10.1300/J135v07n02_05
Moilanen, K. L., Rasmussen, K. E., & Padilla-Walker, L. M. (2014). Bidirectional associations between self-regulation and parenting styles in early adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25(2), 246–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12125
Moore, S., & Leung, C. (2002). Young people’s romantic attachment styles and their associations with well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 25(2), 155–243. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2002.0464
Pilkington, P. D., Bishop, A., & Younan, R. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and early maladaptive schemas in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(3), 569–584. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2533
Pilkington, P. D., Noonan, C., May, T., Younan, R., & Holt, R. A. (2021). Early maladaptive schemas and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(5), 1030–1042. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2558
Pittman, J. F., Kerpelman, J. L., Soto, J. B., & Adler-Baeder, F. M. (2012). Identity exploration in the dating domain: The role of attachment dimensions and parenting practices. Journal of Adolescence, 35(6), 1485–1499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.04.006
Saritas-Atalar, D., & Altan-Atalay, A. (2020). Differential roles of early maladaptive schema domains on the link between perceived parenting behaviors and depression, anxiety, and anger. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9852-4
Scales, P. C., & Gibbons, J. L. (1996). Extended Family Members and Unrelated Adults in the Lives of Young Adolescents: A Research Agenda. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 16(4), 365–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431696016004001
Shorey, R. C., Strauss, C., Zapor, H., & Staurt, G. L. (2017). Dating violence perpetration: Associations with early maladaptive schemas. Violence and Victims, 32(4), 714–727. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-14-00175
Shute, R., Maud, M., & McLachlan, A. (2019). The relationship of recalled adverse parenting styles with maladaptive schemas, trait anger, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Affective Disorders, 259, 337–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.048
Simpson, J. A. (1990). Influence of attachment styles on romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 971–980. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.5.971
Taşkale, N., & Soygüt, G. (2017). Risk factors for women’s intimate partner violence victimization: An examination from the perspective of the schema therapy model. Journal of Family Violence, 32(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9855-6
Wang, Y., Derakhshan, A., & Pan, Z. (2022). Positioning an agenda on a loving pedagogy in second language acquisition: Conceptualization, practice, and research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 894190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894190
Wei, M., Russell, D. W., Mallinckrodt, B., & Vogel, D. L. (2007). The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-short form: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890701268041
Wright, M. O., Crawford, E., & Del Castillo, D. (2009). Childhood emotional maltreatment and later psychological distress among college students: The mediating role of maladaptive schemas. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.12.007
Xiang, S., & Liu, Y. (2018). Understanding the joint effects of perceived parental psychological control and insecure attachment styles: A differentiated approach to adolescent autonomy. Personality and Individual Differences, 126, 12–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.009
Young, J. (2012). 18 early schemas defined. Schema Therapy. Retrieved June 15, 2023 from http://www.schematherapy.com/id73.htm
Young, J., & Gluhoski, V. (1997). A schema-focused perspective on satisfaction in close relationships. In R. J. Sternberg, & M. Hojjat (Eds.), Satisfaction in close relationships (pp. 356–381). The Guilford Press.
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (1993). Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. Guilford Publications.
Young, J. E., Ward-Ciesielski, E. F., Rygh, J. L., Weinberger, A. D., & Beck, A. T. (2021). Cognitive therapy for depression. In D. H. Barlow (Ed.), Clinical handbook of psychological disorders, sixth edition: A step-by-step treatment manual (pp. 257–316). Guilford Publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the university where the data were collected.
Consent to participate
The consent form was presented online. Participants indicated consent by clicking “Yes, I want to participate” which allowed them to proceed to the study measures.
Competing interests
The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Mullinax, H.M., Turner, L.A. Parental psychological control, early maladaptive schemas, and romantic attachment in emerging adults. Curr Psychol 43, 8589–8601 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05012-2
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05012-2