Skip to main content

Parent-Child Relationships

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Parent-child connection; Parent-child relations

Definition

Parent-child relationships refer to the unique and influential relations between parents and their children – either biological or adoptive.

Introduction

Of the many distinct and even lasting relationships individuals develop in the course of a lifetime, one’s relationships with his or her parents are among the (if not the) most influential. The term “parent-child relationship” refers to the unique and significant affiliation between a parent and child. Legally, the parent-child relationship is defined as the relationship between an individual and their biological offspring or between an individual and a child he or she has legally adopted. Thus, at a first glance, parent-child relationships take one of two basic forms: biological or adoptive, with only biological parents sharing genetic material with their offspring. Of course, there is much more to the parent-child relationship than DNA; the interactions and ties...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 3,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 5,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2009). The first 10,000 adult attachment interviews: Distributions of adult attachment representations in non-clinical and clinical groups. Attachment & Human Development, 11, 223–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4, 1–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M. J., Paley, B., & Harter, K. (2001). Interparental conflict and parent-child relationships. In J. Grych & F. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 249–272). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fraley, R. C. (2002). Attachment stability from infancy to adulthood: Meta-analysis and dynamic modeling of developmental mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 123–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J. E., Goodnow, J. J., & Kuczynksi, L. (2000). New directions in analyses of parenting contributions to children’s acquisition of values. Child Development, 71, 205–211.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laursen, B., Coy, K. C., & Collins, W. A. (1998). Reconsidering changes in parent-child conflict across adolescence: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 69(3), 817–832.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, L., & Sobolewski, J. M. (2003). Child effects as family process. In A. Crouter & A. Booth (Eds.), Children’s influence on family dynamics: The neglected side of family relationships (pp. 237–252). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brittany Paige Mihalec-Adkins .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Mihalec-Adkins, B. (2020). Parent-Child Relationships. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1866

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics