From Parental Attachment to Social Problem Solving Skills in Early Adolescents: Testing Hope as an Mediator

• In Event: The Influence of Family Relationships: A Snapshot in Four Contexts Across Three Developmental Stages

Abstract

Introduction. The advancement in well-being research has suggested the important role of well-being factors in human functioning. In particular, the theory of engine of well-being (Jayawickreme, Forgeard & Seligman, 2012) suggests that process variables (individuals’ internal well-being states influencing their reactions and choices) mediate the association between input variables (factors affecting well-being) and output variables (factors representing well-being). One cognitive well-being factor, hope, is a positive psychological state that is derived from the interaction of three elements: goals, pathways, and agency (Snyder, 2002). Hope potentially functions as individual’s internal well-being states that transmit the positive effect from the input to output.
Mounting research evidence has indicated the pivotal role of parental attachment in children and adolescents’ development. However, the mechanisms explaining how parental attachment affects adolescents’ positive behaviors, such as social problem solving skills, is less understood. Previous research has found significant relations between parental attachment and hope (Blake & Norton, 2014; Jiang, Huebner & Hills, 2013), and parental attachment and social problem solving skills (Jiang, 2015). Based on the engine of well-being theory, we investigated if hope mediates the relation between parental attachment (input) and social problem solving skills (output) among early adolescents.

Hypotheses. The current study hypothesized that (1) parental attachment had a significantly positive relation with social problem solving skills over time; and (2) hope significantly mediated the longitudinal relation between parental attachment and social problem solving skills.

Study population. Participants were 745 Chinese early adolescents (6th to 8th grade; 51.1% male) at a middle school in a city in Northern China.

Methods. Participants completed self-report measures across two points with a 6-month interval. Two subscales from The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) were used to measure paternal attachment and maternal attachment (Time 1). The Children’s Hope Scale (CHS; Snyder, Cheavens, & Sympson, 1997) was used to measure hope (Time 1). The problem solving skills subscale of Social Problem-Solving Inventory for Adolescents (Frauenknecht, & Black, 1995) was used to measure social problem solving skills (Time 1 and 2). Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted.

Results. Two competing measurement models were tested first, one separating paternal attachment and maternal attachment, and the other one combining them into parental attachment. The former model had better fit and thus was selected for the following main analyses of the mediation model. The results of structural model analyses indicated that both paternal and maternal attachment positively predicted hope social problem solving skills. In addition, hope fully mediated in the relations between paternal and maternal attachment and social problem solving skills, respectively (Figure 1). Thus, both hypotheses were supported. The results supported the theory of engine of well-being and were consistent with previous empirical studies. The results suggested that promoting hope through parenting practice can be an important pathway that strengthens the effects of parental attachment in building early adolescents’ social problem solving skills.

Authors

• Yuyang Hu, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Xu Jiang, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author