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Perceptions of secure base provision within the family
Susan S Woodhouse1, Matthew J Dykas, Jude Cassidy
1Department of Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology and Rehabilitation Services, Pennsylvania State University, USA. ssw10@psu.edu
Attachment & Human Development
|February 7, 2009
Summary
This study shows that adolescents perceiving parents as a secure base have fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Parental perceptions of each other as a secure base relate to marital satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Family Studies
- Attachment Theory
Background:
- Secure base provision is crucial for family functioning and adolescent well-being.
- Understanding inter-parental and adolescent perceptions of secure base is vital for family dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine links between parental perceptions of secure base provision, adult romantic attachment, and marital satisfaction.
- To investigate interrelations among family members' perceptions of secure base provision.
- To assess the association between adolescents' and parents' perceptions of secure base provision and adolescent psychological symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Survey research involving 189 two-parent families.
- Data collected from adolescents (mean age 17) and their parents.
- Analysis of perceptions of secure base provision, adult romantic attachment, marital satisfaction, and adolescent symptoms.
Main Results:
- Partial support for links between spousal secure base provision and adult romantic attachment.
- Full support for associations between secure base provision and marital satisfaction.
- Mothers' perceptions of spouse as secure base predicted adolescents' perceptions of both parents as secure bases.
- Adolescents' perceptions of parents as secure bases correlated with fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
- Inter-parental perceptions of secure base provision did not link to adolescent symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Parental secure base provision is linked to marital satisfaction and influences adolescents' views of parental support.
- Adolescent-perceived parental secure base provision is a significant protective factor against internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
- Future research should explore the nuances of inter-parental perceptions and their indirect effects on child outcomes.
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