THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND THE PARENTING: A REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

According to the internal working model, attachment is rooted in one's previous interactive experience, which can affect further interpersonal relationships through reaction to others, including the parent-child relationships. However, no meta-analysis examining the link between parental attachments and parenting styles was done before. This meta-analysis study aimed to examine the associations between parents' patterns of attachment and parenting styles. Sixteen published articles and 2342 participants were included in the analysis. It was found that parental secure attachment correlated with positive parenting, but no significant negative correlation emerged between secure attachment and negative parenting. Regarding maternal insecure attachment, the results showed it correlated with positive parenting negatively and significantly. Also, there was a significant association between the insecure attachment and negative parenting. This research suggests that parental attachment pattern is linked to parenting styles.