Timing of Parental Separation and Attachment to Parents in Adolescence: Results of a Prospective Study from Birth to Age 16

Using prospective longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), this paper examines the effects of parental separation on the quality of adolescents' attachment to parents and their perceptions of parental care and overprotection during childhood. Exposure to parental separation was significantly associated with lower attachment to parents in adolescence and more negative perceptions of maternal and paternal care and protection during childhood. When examined in relation to the developmental timing of first separation, a linear relationship between the age at first separation and later parental attachment and perceived parent child relations was found. The younger the age of the child at the time of separation, the lower their subsequent parental attachment and the more likely they were to perceive both their mother and father as less caring and more overprotective. No gender differences were found in children's re spouses to parental separation. These findings persisted after control for the confounding effects of family social background, marital conflict, parenting, child behavior, and remarriage. Results supported the importance of the early childhood years for the development of a secure and enduring attachment relationship between children and their parents. Key Words: adolescence, attachment, divorce, parent-child relationships, parental separation. In many Western countries, there has been a substantial rise in the number of marriages ending in separation and divorce. These increases in marital instability have led to rising concern about the short- and long-term effects of parental separation on children (Allison & Furstenberg, 1989; Amato, 1993; Amato & Keith, 1991; Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin, & Kiernan, 1995; Cherlin et al., 1991; Dawson, 1991; Fergusson, Horwood, & Lynskey, 1994; Fergusson, Lynskey, & Horwood, 1994; Furstenberg, 1990; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1985; Hetherington, Stanley-Hagan, & Anderson, 1989; Peterson & Zill, 1986; Rutter, 1971). Most work in this area has focused on the cognitive and mental health outcomes for children, whereas little is known about the effect of separation on the attachment relationships of parents and children from disrupted families. In this study, we examined the effects of parental separation on children's perceptions of the quality of parent-child relations in adolescence. ATTACHMENT AND ADOLESCENCE Attachment refers to the emotional bond that develops between a parent and child (Bowlby, 1982). It is argued that on the basis of early parent-child interactions, children develop mental representations or internal working models of their relationships with parents (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985). Parent-child relations that are warm, responsive, and stable foster the development of secure parental attachments, whereas parenting that is rejecting or inconsistently responsive and available gives rise to insecure parental attachment manifested by child avoidance or ambivalence toward the parent (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). These attachment styles are believed to become increasingly stable and resistant to change over the course of development, providing a prototype for expectations, strategies, and behavior in later relationships (Bretherton, 1985, 1992; Main et al., 1985). However, in response to recent data suggesting that attachment may be less stable than first presumed, it has been proposed that continuities in attachment style may depend on the stability of the childrearing environment over time (van IJzendoorn, 1996; Sroufe, 1988). Most attachment research has emphasized the importance of a secure attachment for infants and young children. However, with increasing theoretical attention being given to the role of internal working models, the relevance of attachment relations for well-being in adolescence and adulthood has been increasingly acknowledged. …