Attachment Security: The Genesis of Parenting Style?

There is a great deal of literature examining attachment security and parenting styles but little research has considered these topics in relation to each other. This paper examines the nature of this relationship with a particular focus on Baumrind’s (1978) categorical parenting styles and Bowlby’s (1969) attachment theory. Utilizing a clinic population of 20 parents, it was proposed that securely attached parents would evidence authoritative parenting styles, while insecurely attached parents would evidence no-authoritative parenting styles. The Adult Attachment Projective (AAP), the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ), and the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) were utilized in assessing attachment security. The Parental Authority Questionnaire-Revised (PAQ-R) was administered to measure parenting style. Variable results were found; findings utilizing the RQ supported the hypothesis, findings from the AAS were approaching significance in the hypothesized direction, and those arising from use of the AAP were non-significant. Further investigation of this relationship is suggested. Additionally, these findings are discussed in relation to van IJzendoorn’s (1995) discussion of the transmission of attachment.