THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ATTACHMENT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAREGIVER EMPATHY AND RESILIENCE IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12955/pss.v4.395Keywords:
empathy, quality relationships, resilient development, perceived empathy, caregivers, attachment relationships, resilienceAbstract
Empathy plays an important mediating role between quality relationships and resilient development. This study examined the relationships between perceived empathy from caregivers/parents, quality of attachment relationships, and resilience in young adults. An online survey was administered to 240 university students measuring their perceptions of caregiver empathy during childhood, attachment styles, and current resilience. Results indicated that secure attachment partially mediated the association between caregiver empathy and resilience.
A cross-sectional online survey design was used. Participants were 240 university students (mean age 21 years, 60% female). Measures included the s-EMBU (Arrindell, 1999) to assess perceptions of caregiver empathy during upbringing, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form (ECR-S; Wei et al., 2007) to measure attachment anxiety and avoidance styles, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003) to evaluate resilience. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were conducted using SPSS. Mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018) examined whether attachment mediated the association between caregiver empathy and resilience.
Higher s-EMBU scores were associated with lower attachment anxiety (r=-0.53) and avoidance (r = -.14, p < .001) and higher CD-RISC scores (r = .33, p = .001). Attachment anxiety and avoidance partially mediated the relationship between s-EMBU and CD-RISC (indirect effects for anxiety=.07, anxiety=.12). The secure attachment, characterized by low anxiety and avoidance accounted for a total effect was of .49.
Results indicated that higher perceived empathy from caregivers was associated with more secure attachment relationships and higher resilience.
In summary, this study found that secure attachment partially mediated the association between perceived empathy from caregivers and resilience in young adults. Empathy in caregiving relationships was linked to forming secure bonds, which then supported resilient development. The findings highlight empathy as a key factor fostering quality relationships and resilience from childhood through emerging adulthood. These results suggest that empathy in caregiving relationships may foster secure attachment bonds which in turn support resilient development. Cultivating empathetic parenting could help strengthen relationships and build resilience.
Warning: file_put_contents(/disk_1/www/cz/cbuic/ojs/cache/fc-pluginSettings-2-usagestatsplugin.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in /disk_1/www/cz/cbuic/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/cache/FileCache.inc.php on line 90
References
Arnett, J.J. (2014). Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties, Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
Chaplin, T. M., Cole, P. M., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2005). Parental socialization of emotion expression: Gender differences and relations to child adjustment. Emotion, 5(1), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.5.1.80
Collins, N. L. (1996). Working models of attachment: Implications for explanation, emotion, and behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology, 71(4), 810. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.4.810
Cross, S. E., & Madson, L. (1997). Models of the self: self-construals and gender. Psychological bulletin, 122(1), 5–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.5
de Roo M, Veenstra R, Kretschmer T. (2022) Internalizing and externalizing correlates of parental overprotection as measured by the EMBU: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Soc Dev. 31(4):962-983. doi: 10.1111/sode.12590. Epub 2022 Feb 15. PMID: 36588978; PMCID: PMC9790597
IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.
Jinyao, Y., Xiongzhao, Z., Auerbach, R. P., Gardiner, C. K., Lin, C., Yuping, W., & Shuqiao, Y. (2022). Gender differences in adult attachment: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality, 90(3), 595-616. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12635
Mikulincer, M., & Florian, V. (1995). Appraisal of and coping with a real-life stressful situation: The contribution of attachment styles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(4), 406-414. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167295214011
Moretti, M. M., & Peled, M. (2004). Adolescent-parent attachment: Bonds that support healthy development. Paediatrics & child health, 9(8), 551–555. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/9.8.551
van Polanen, M., Colonnesi, C., Fukkink, R. G., & Tavecchio, L. W. C. (2017). Is Caregiver Gender Important for Boys and Girls? Gender-Specific Child–Caregiver Interactions and Attachment Relationships. Early Education and Development, 28(5), 559–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1258928
Wei, M., Heppner, P. P., & Mallinckrodt, B. (2005). Perceived coping as a mediator between attachment and psychological distress: A structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(4), 438-447. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.50.4.438
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author is the copyright holder. Distribution license: CC Attribution 4.0.
