The Relationship between the Attachment Styles of Children, Parenting Styles, and the Socio-Economic Status of parents

Asie  Eftekhari; Maryam  Bakhtiari; Amir Sam  Kianimoghadam

doi:10.18502/jchr.v11i4.11640

Asie Eftekhari Department Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Maryam Bakhtiari Department Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Amir Sam Kianimoghadam Department Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jchr.v11i4.11640

Keywords: Object Attachment, Parenting, Social Class.

Abstract

Background: Family's socio-economic status may significantly influence parenting style. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between attachment styles of 7 to 12-year-old children, parenting styles, and the socio-economic status of parents.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional and correlational study. The study population included 7 to 12 children who studied in elementary schools of Tehran in 2021. A sample of 95 individuals were selected by random sampling method and evaluated by questionares regarding Socio-Economic status (SE) (Ghodratnama, 2013), Parenting Style (PS) (Baumrind, 1973), Kinship Center Attachment (KCA) (Halpern and Kappenberg, 2006). The information obtained from the samples was analysed by Pearson correlation coefficient through SPSS 22 software. The level of significance was considered 5%.

Results: The sample group consisted of 100 parents of 7- to 12-year-old children in Tehran city. The results showed a significant correlation between the attachment styles of the children and parenting styles and the socio-economic (r= -.284, p<0.01) status of parents. In parenting styles there was a significant relationship between authoritive parenting style and positive adjustment (p<0.05), emotional reactivity (p<0.05), negative behaviour (p<0.01) and distancing from caregiver support (p<0.01). There was also a significant relationship between authoritarian and positive adjustment (p<0.01), negative behaviour (p<0.01), distancing from caregiver support (p<0.01). A significant relationship was observed between permissive and negative behavior (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Both authoritative and permissive parenting styles seem to be dysfunctional. They cause different behavioural and emotional issues in children due to their attachment styles.