NCJ Number
213036
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 89-102
Date Published
February 2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study compared the attachment patterns and perceptions of parent characteristics for 147 college women with married biological parents and 157 college women with divorced parents.
Abstract
The study found that the women with married biological parents had a higher self-regard and greater trust of others than the women with divorced parents. They also rated their biological fathers and mothers more positively than did the women with divorced parents; however, regardless of the marital status of biological parents, women who had higher self-esteem and a greater trust of others rated their parents more positively than women with low self-esteem and a mistrust of others. The latter women tended to view their parents as absent, distant, and demanding. The sample of college women with married parents was taken from a study by Carranza and Kilmann (2000), and the sample of women with divorced parents was taken from a study by Carranza et al. (2005). Both samples were recruited within 1 year apart from a participant pool at a large southeastern university. The women in both samples had similar demographics, except that the sample with divorced parents had a higher percentage of African-American women and a lower percentage of White women. All the women were administered the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, which indirectly measures four attachments patterns: secure, fearful-avoidant, preoccupied, and dismissive avoidant. Other instruments administered to the women were the Parenting Characteristics Questionnaire, which measures adult recollections of parent-child interactions, and the Interpersonal Trust Scale, which measures trust in peers and family members as well as person with whom one has little direct contact. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 41 references