Parental Bonding and Adult Attachment Style: The Relationship between Four Category Models

Purpose: Early relationships formed between parent and child are thought to guide the child’s feelings, thoughts and expectations in subsequent adult relationships. We examined the relationship between two four category models of perceptions of parenting and adult attachment style among a nonclinical cohort. Parenting style was assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and adult attachment, using the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). Methods: Cohort members (n = 133) provided responses to the PBI (in 1978) and RQ (35 years later) as part of a larger longitudinal study. PBI parental care and control scales were used to assign parents to one of four quadrants; ‘optimal parenting’ (high care/ low control), ‘affectionate constraint’ (high care/high control), ‘affectionless control’ (low care/high control) and neglectful parenting (low care/low control). Analysis of variance was performed to assess the contribution of gender and PBI quadrant scores to four RQ attachment styles (secure, dismissing, fearful and preoccupied). Results: There was a relationship between optimal parenting and secure attachment among women, and between neglectful parenting and preoccupied attachment among men. There was a relationship between affectionless control and preoccupied attachment for women, and an inverse relationship between affectionate constraint and dismissing attachment for men, both results which were not predicted. Conclusion: Findings suggest that perceptions of parental care and control contribute to adult attachment style 35 years later but males and females differ in how their response to parental control. High parental control may lead women to develop a negative selfimage of self while men may benefit from higher levels of parental control, particularly maternal control, in conjunction with high maternal care.