Conroy, Kate (2009) Parental Bonding and Attachment Style as Predictors of Loneliness. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Whilst previous research has examined the relationships between (a) parental bonding and attachment styles and (b) attachment styles and loneliness, few have included parental bonding, attachment, and loneliness together in a single study. The current study has four main aims: (a) an examination of whether relationships existed among parental bonding variables (i.e., mother and father care and overprotection), attachment styles (i.e., secure, fearful, dismissing, and preoccupied), and three types of loneliness (i.e., family, romantic, and social); (b) an evaluation of the contributions of the parental bonding variables and attachment styles in predicting three types of loneliness; (c) an examination of whether the relationship between the parental bonding variables (i.e., mother and father care and overprotection) and the three types of loneliness (i.e., family, romantic, and social) would be mediated by a secure attachment style; and (d) an exploratory investigation of possible gender differences. Participants included 204 individuals (Male = 86; Female = 115), aged between 18 and 76 years, and were members of the community, community groups, organisations, as well as colleagues, family, and friends known to the researcher. The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was used to assess perceived early childhood bonding experiences (i.e., mother and father care and overprotection; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979). The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) was used to assess attachment styles, while the short version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S; DiTommaso, Brannen, & Best, 2004) was used to measure romantic, family, and social loneliness. Correlational analyses revealed that mother care and father care had negative relationships with family and social loneliness, whilst only mother care was negatively related to romantic loneliness. Mother and father overprotection were positively related to family loneliness, whilst only mother overprotection was positively related to social loneliness. In addition, secure attachment was positively related to mother care and negatively related to mother overprotection and family loneliness. Only mother care, however, made a significant and unique contribution to the prediction of romantic, family, and social loneliness. Furthermore, secure attachment was found to partially mediate the association between mother care and family loneliness. However, due to inconsistencies found in the mediation analyses between the Baron and Kenny’s (1986) method, Sobel’s test, and the bootstrapping method it is recommended that caution be used in interpreting the findings. Results of the current research provide evidence that psychotherapeutic interventions designed to teach mothers that providing increased levels of warmth and affection to their children may increase the children’s’ secure attachment. This in turn may reduce their children’s levels of romantic, family, and social loneliness in adulthood. Future research however may benefit from implementing longitudinal designs, which could establish causal relationships between the dimensions of parental bonding, attachment styles, and the three types of loneliness (i.e., family, romantic, and social).
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Nola Passmore |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Oct 2025 05:10 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Oct 2025 05:10 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52222 |
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