Maternal attachment style and adolescents' self-esteem

Abstract

Objectives: the study is aimed to verify the incidence of maternal relationship styles on adolescents’ self-esteem and their predisposition towards anxiety. Methods Participants: 250 mother-son/daughter couples. Adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years. Measurements: a brief form of Bracken’s Self-Concept Scale (Manna, Mirisola, Boca, 2005); Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (Endler, Edwards, Vitelli, 1996); Attachment Style Questionnaire (Feeney, Noller, Hanrahan, 1996). Procedure: Questionnaires were collectively administered to adolescents during school lessons. Mothers filled out the Attachment Style Questionnaire individually. Results: Multivariate analysis were performed to verify whether maternal Secure or Insecure attachment style affect the extent of self-esteem, state and trait anxiety variables in adolescents. Secure style influences adolescents’ self-esteem with a protective function on state anxiety; Insecure style has a significant impact both on adolescents’ physical appearance and interpersonal relationships. Conclusion. According to our findings, mother-son/daughter interaction and maternal relational support seems to affect both self-esteem and level of anxiety.