INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP ANXIETY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: MODERATING ROLE OF PARENTAL ATTACHMENT IN ADOLESCENTS

Diverse studies have been done to explore the relationship of parental attachment with developmental outcomes in children but very few studies have investigated this phenomenon in adolescence. Adolescence is a much-burdened stage of development that is marked by the physical and psychological transition. For this reason, this research was planned to find out the link of parental attachment with psychological well-being, and interpersonal relationship anxiety in adolescents. Selective school and college students of age range 12 to 18 years (M=16.07, SD=1.77) were administered with the interpersonal relationship anxiety questionnaire, the flourishing scale and inventory of parent and peer attachment-mother and father forms along with a detailed demographic information sheet. Results of partial correlation, after controlling for the effect of gender, revealed that attachment with mother and father exclusively positively correlates with psychological well-being and negatively correlated with interpersonal relationship anxiety. SEM revealed that maternal and paternal attachment correlate with each other and collectively negatively correlates with interpersonal relationship anxiety and positively with psychological well-being. However, exclusively, only paternal attachment negatively predicted relationship anxiety. One sample t-test revealed that maternal attachment is perceived as secure, across genders as compared to the paternal attachment.