Relational requirements of attachment and the well-being of adolescents in the family

Abstract

Family attachment is viewed as the bonds between children, adolescents (in the case of this study) and significant others in their household with whom they form close emotional bonds in the process of growing up. This mixed method study explores to what extent the quality of attachment relationships can contribute to the kinds of relationship in families that would promote attachment. Such attachment is regarded as being associated with greater adolescent well-being. The experience of family attachment from the perspective of adolescents and how their perception of their attachment to their families impacts on their sense of well-being is thus explored in this study. The theoretical framework I chose to investigate the qualities of family relationships is that of Neufeld who describes family relationships in terms of six dimensions, namely (1) proximity, (2) sameness, (3) belonging, (4) significance, (5) feeling loved and (6) being known. These qualities (Neufeld and Maté, 2006) of attachment ascend from the simple to the more complex and were used to develop a new instrument for measuring the extent to which adolescents report specific qualities to be present in their family relationships. Attachment is a developmental process and knowledge about these six dimensions increases our understanding of healthy family attachment relationships. The participants consisted of urban South African Grade 11 and 12 students between the ages of 16 and 18 who attend the two participating government schools in Pretoria. Convenient multi-stage random sampling was used and permission was obtained from the Gauteng Department of Education, as well as informed consent from the parents and participants. Participation was voluntary and the participants could withdraw from the research at any point. An exploratory sequential design was used in which the qualitative findings in the first phase built towards the quantitative phase, which included the development of a new scale in the second phase (Creswell, 2009). The first qualitative phase of the study was exploratory in nature and data were collected from two participants through semi-structured interviews. The purpose of these interviews was to explore the participants’ experience of the quality of their family relationships. The analysis of the qualitative data entailed the organisation of the data according to themes that identify a specific dimension of Neufeld’s attachment model (Neufeld and Maté, 2006). The information gained in the first phase assisted in designing and implementing the second quantitative phase. The aim of the second quantitative phase was to create an initial item pool, first with a small pilot study (n=26) and then with a larger sample (n=208) in the main study. The initial item pool was subjected to revision by a panel of experts and 72 items were piloted. Internal consistency of the items was established by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and construct-related validity was investigated by using convergent validity of the scale. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with promax rotation was applied in the main study for data reduction and for refining the constructs (DeVellis, 2012; Fabrigar and Wegener, 2012; Jolliffe, 2002; Pallant, 2011). To determine the number of factors that should be retained, multiple extraction criteria were used before making the decision. First, the Kaiser criterion (eigenvalue >1 rule), which suggested retaining factors that were above the eigenvalue of 1, was considered. Another criterion was Cattell’s criterion (scree plot) in conjunction with the eigenvalues where the scree plot indicated which factors accounted for most of the variances and thus a larger eigenvalue. A five-factor model seemed to fit the data and was subsequently regarded as the final Family Attachment Scale (FAS). Labelling of the factors followed and reflected the theoretical and conceptual intention of the present study (Fabrigar et al., 2012; Pallant, 2011). A General Linear Model Procedure was followed to examine the extent to which the dependent variable Trait Well-Being Total Score (TWBTS) could determine subjective well-being (DeVellis, 2012; Kaplan et al., 2009). The Trait Well Being Inventory (TWBI) (Dalbert, 1992) was used for validation purposes as it measures ‘well-being’. In this way construct-related evidence was obtained for the validity of the FAS since family attachment is theoretically associated with greater well-being. The findings of the FAS indicated that only Love and Knowledge displayed significant correlational patterns with subjective well-being, as originally expected. Although the quality of family relationships changes with adolescence, the relationship between family members remains of the utmost importance. It was interesting that Belonging did not emerge as a significant factor; this may be because adolescence is a period of development in which young people underestimate their sense of belonging as they seek autonomy. Adolescents seek to develop their own identity and ‘belonging’ to a family may not necessarily be a priority. I wish to emphasise that the results drawn from the study do not represent the broader population and are relevant only to adolescents in urban South Africa with intact families. The present study contributes to the existing body of literature on the theory of attachment by providing empirical support for Neufeld’s attachment theory (Neufeld et al., 2006), which is described in popular literature. A valid and reliable Family Attachment Scale (FAS) was also developed. Practical contributions of the present study include a better understanding of adolescents’ attachment relationships which could aid professionals such as Educational Psychologists, Social Workers and Counsellors when working with adolescents.