Annual of social work, Vol. 31 No. 2, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v31i3.538
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT, PERCEIVED MOTHER’S AND FATHER’S PARENTAL BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL ANXIETY IN ADOLESCENCE
Mateja Dodig
orcid.org/0009-0006-0900-4392
; Clinic for Children's Diseases Zagreb, Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology "Mladen Ćepulić", Zagreb, Croatia
Inja Erceg
orcid.org/0000-0001-7321-1253
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Due to the increasing number of young people with symptoms of social anxiety, especially in the vulnerable developmental period, the period of adolescence, it is important to have a better understanding of its determinants. The aim of this study was to investigate gender and age differences in social anxiety in adolescence, as well as to examine the possibility of predicting adolescent social anxiety based on the gender and age of participants, dimensions of attachment (insecurity in binding, discomfort, relationships as secondary, trust and preoccupation with relationships) and dimensions of perceived mother’s and father’s parental behavior (support, restrictive control and indulgence). The research was conducted online with 414 male and female students of secondary schools (70.5% of female students) aged from 14 to 19 years (M = 16.35; SD = 1.07). The Parental Behavior Questionnaire, the Croatian version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents and the Croatian version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire were used. The results show that adolescent girls are significantly more socially anxious than adolescent boys, but there was no significant age difference. Dimensions of attachment and dimensions of perceived parental behavior are significant predictors of social anxiety. Uncertainty in binding is its strongest positive predictor, while trust is the strongest negative predictor. The obtained results contribute to the expansion of existing knowledge about risk and protective factors for social anxiety. They can also contribute to the creation of social anxiety prevention programs and individual treatment of adolescents and young adults.
Keywords
social anxiety; attachment; parental behavior; adolescence
Hrčak ID:
327496
URI
Publication date:
7.1.2025.
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