Does Emotional Dependence and Perceived Parental Acceptance Predict Children's Psychological Maladjustment?

• Author: Miguel Á. Carrasco,María José González‐Calderón,Juan C. Suárez
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12338

M Á. C Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

M J G-C Madrid Open University

J C. S Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

Does Emotional Dependence and Perceived Parental

Acceptance Predict Children’s Psychological

Maladjustment?

Objective: To analyze associations among child

dependence, perceived parentalacceptance, and

children’s psychological adjustment.

Background: Extreme levels of both perceived

parental acceptance and rejection are postu-

lated to be associated with dependence in such

a way that may lead to psychological malad-

justment. However, this inuence has not been

empirically tested to date.

Method: A convenience sample of 989 chil-

dren (9–16 years of age, 45.7% boys) in Spain

completed the Personality Assessment Ques-

tionnaire, the Youth Self Report (YSR), and

the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Question-

naire for children. Statistical analyses included

descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and

hierarchical multiple regressions.

Results: Child dependence and parental accep-

tance had a curvilinear relationship and were

both associated with children’s psychological

maladjustment. Children’s dependence, family

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences

and Education, Madrid Open University, Vía de Ser-

vicio A-6, 15, 28400, Collado-Villalba, Madrid, Spain

(mariajose.gonzalez@udima.es).

Key Words: Child emotional dependence, externalizing and

internalizing problems, parental acceptance, psychological

adjustment.

structure, and children’s age moderated the rela-

tionship between parental rejection and chil-

dren’s maladjustment.

Conclusion: Results provide empirical support

for the postulated relationships between per-

ceived parental acceptance and child depen-

dence and show the relevance of considering

children’s age and family structure as poten-

tial moderators. Furthermore, child dependence

tends to buffer the impact of parental rejection

in certain individuals.

Implications: Child dependence and parental

rejection should be considered together in

parenting intervention programs. Moreover,

promoting dependence could be part of this

intervention in certain family settings.

Interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory

(IPARTheory; Rohner, 1986, 2004), formerly

known as PARTheory, is an evidence-based

socialization and life span development the-

ory drawn from cross-cultural evidence to

explain components of interpersonal accep-

tance and rejection. According to this theory,

parental acceptance (i.e., love, affection, care,

comfort, concern, support) or rejection (i.e.,

hostility, aggression, indifference, neglect)

behaviors contribute extensively to the psycho-

logical adjustment or maladjustment of children

660 Family Relations 67 (December 2018): 660–674

DOI:10.1111/fare.12338