Confirmatory factor analysis of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a Japanese population

Parental bonding in retrospect and adult attachment style: A comparative study between Spanish, Italian and Japanese cultures

Attachment is an innate human relational mechanism that develops progressively from early childhood, influences individuals' representations and behaviors, shapes relationships, and affects the social and cultural environment. Parental bonding refers to the ability of parents to be emotionally and behaviorally available to the child during infancy. Attachment style refers to the individual's relational attitude in close relationships that influences adult love, bonding, handling relationships, and social exploration. The role of intergenerational, cultural and developmental factors influencing the relationship between the attachment style in adulthood and the parental bonding style recalled during childhood has been debated. This study explores the relationships between recalled parental bonding, adult attachment style, and cultural background in a sample of Spanish, Italian, and Japanese adults using a cross-sectional and cross-cultural design. For this purpose, the validated versions of the Experience in Close Relationship Scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument were administered to a non-clinical population of three hundred and five participants in the three countries. Results show that the most frequent adult attachment style is the secure style, followed by the dismissing-avoidant, the preoccupied, and the fearful-avoidant style. The dismissing-avoidant style was the most frequent insecure attachment style in the Japanese sample whereas the preoccupied style was the most frequent insecure attachment style in the Italians and Spaniards. Japanese are more anchored to the memory of maternal and paternal overprotection, which is related to more avoidance in actual close relationships. Spaniard's current relationships are mildly independent of recalled parental bonding, showing an association between lower current avoidance to primary parental care. In the Italian sample, there is no significant relationship between current adult close relationships and recalled parental bonding. These results suggest that different cultural models influence adult attachment representations differently, in terms of the weight placed on attachment-related avoidance, attachment-related anxiety, care, and overprotection in infant and adult relationships.

Validation and factor analysis of the parental bonding instrument in Japanese pregnant women

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) evaluates parental attitudes derived from an individual’s childhood experiences with their parents. The factor structure of the PBI differs depending on variables such as psychosocial factors including culture, race, sex, and psychological and social conditions of participants. Although previous studies of the relationships between perinatal depression and parenting experiences have used the factor structures of the PBI from the general population, it is unclear whether the same factor structures are appropriate in the highly variable perinatal period. In this study, complete responses to the PBI and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were received from 932 primiparas at 25 weeks of gestation and at 1 month postpartum. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on half of the responses, and it was confirmed that the three factors were care, interference, and autonomy. Confirmatory factor analysis of the remaining half of the answers showed comprehensible fitness. Each factor showed a high degree of internal consistency, and each factor of the PBI correlated with the EPDS, indicating construct validity. The reliability and validity of the PBI in perinatal Japanese women were confirmed, and it was found that the PBI had a three-factor structure.

Mental health correlates and potential childhood predictors for the wish to be of the opposite sex in young autistic adults

LAY ABSTRACT

Autistic people/people with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to experience gender dysphoria. However, the possible longitudinal predictors and underlying mechanisms of this co-occurrence are unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed 88 people with autism spectrum disorder and 42 typically developing individuals at their average ages of 13.0 (baseline, childhood/adolescence) and 20.2 years old (follow-up, adulthood). At follow-up, their endorsement on the item "I wish I was the opposite sex" was used to evaluate gender dysphoric symptoms. We compared mental health symptoms between adults with and without this item endorsement at the follow-up assessment. We explored parent-reported family and autism characteristics-related predictors in childhood/adolescence to this item endorsement in adulthood. We found that more autistic adults reported the wish to be of the opposite sex than did typically developing individuals. Autistic adults who endorsed this item experienced more mental health challenges, more school bullying and cyberbullying, more suicidal ideation, and worse quality of life. Moreover, parent-reported lower family support and more stereotyped/repetitive behaviors during childhood/adolescence predicted the self-reported wish to be of the opposite sex in adulthood in autistic individuals. More attention and support should be provided to autistic people regarding gender development and related mental health and quality of life impact, especially during the transition period to young adulthood.

Psychometric Properties of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a Sample of Canadian Children

The parental bonding instrument (PBI) is a self-report questionnaire that was initially designed to retrospectively assess perceived parenting style during childhood in adult respondents. Recent studies have used the PBI to assess current perception of parenting in children. However, few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the PBI in children. This study examined the factor structure and reliability of the PBI in a sample of Canadian children aged 7-18 years (n = 257). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted separately for the mother and father form of the PBI and composite reliability was used to determine internal consistency of the PBI. A four-factor model (care, overprotection, autonomy, indifference) showed the best fit to the data. The PBI exhibited good internal consistency but poor convergent validity. Configural invariance was not found for the PBI between two age groups (7-12 and 13-18 years), however these findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size in each age group. This study suggests the PBI may be a valid and reliable self-report measure of parental bonding in children but further research is needed.

Psychometric Validation of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a U.K. Population-Based Sample: Role of Gender and Association With Mental Health in Mid-Late Life

The factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) has been frequently studied in diverse samples but no study has examined its psychometric properties from large, population-based samples. In particular, important questions have not been addressed such as the measurement invariance properties across parental and offspring gender. We evaluated the PBI based on responses from a large, representative population-based sample, using an exploratory structural equation modeling method appropriate for categorical data. Analysis revealed a three-factor structure representing "care," "overprotection," and "autonomy" parenting styles. In terms of psychometric measurement validity, our results supported the complete invariance of the PBI ratings across sons and daughters for their mothers and fathers. The PBI ratings were also robust in relation to personality and mental health status. In terms of predictive value, paternal care showed a protective effect on mental health at age 43 in sons. The PBI is a sound instrument for capturing perceived parenting styles, and is predictive of mental health in middle adulthood.

Parental bonding and adolescents' depressive and anxious symptoms in Pakistan

INTRODUCTION

A quantitative cross sectional study was carried out to investigate the role of parental bonding in relation to depressive and anxious symptoms among secondary school adolescents in Pakistan. The study also aimed to investigate the construct validity of the parental bonding inventory in the cultural context of Pakistan.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 1124 adolescents recruited from eight secondary schools in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Urdu translated versions of Parental Bonding Instrument (Qadir et al., 2005) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (Mumford et al., 1991) were administered in classroom settings. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Results from the CFA of the Urdu version of the Parental Bonding Instrument supported a modified version of the three factor model proposed by Kendler (1996) consisting of warmth, protectiveness and authoritarianism. Based on SEM, we found a significant relationship between low parental warmth and depression symptoms among adolescents, whereas maternal protectiveness was a significant predictor for anxiety. Parental authoritarianism was not a significant predictor for depression or anxiety.

DISCUSSION

Findings of this study indicate that parental bonding is a central construct within a developmental framework in the cultural context of Pakistan, and is important when considering long-term psychosocial functioning of individuals. It should be explored further in clinical populations of Pakistani adolescents to ascertain significance of these constructs for interventions.

The Developmental Origins of Personality Factors from the Self-Definitional and Relatedness Domains: A Review of Theory and Research

This paper reviews theory and research on the developmental origins of several widely studied personality vulnerabilities to psychopathology that represent the self-definitional (self-criticism, autonomy, and perfectionism) or relatedness (dependency and sociotropy) domains identified in Blatt's (2008) , Blatt and Shichman's (1983) , and Beck's ( Beck et al., 1983 ) 2-polarities models of personality. We examine the evidence for the effects of both parenting and peer relationships. We conclude that there is a robust relationship between negative parenting behaviors and the 5 personality vulnerabilities reviewed here which pertain to both self-definition and relatedness, with recent evidence suggesting a possible effect of peer relationships over and above parents. The available evidence suggests that all of the negative developmental experiences studied to date contribute to the development of all the personality vulnerabilities reviewed here. In light of this, we suggest possible mechanisms through which adverse developmental experiences may affect personality factors pertaining to self-definition and relatedness. We also suggest that there may be commonalities across the developmental experiences, such that they result in similar developmental consequences. Although there is now much research on the development of these personality factors, there is still relatively little research examining the roles of factors other than parents and peers, including siblings, romantic partners, environmental changes, and genetics, and we conclude by proposing a revised model of the development of self-definition and relatedness in order to outline future directions for this research field.

Cognitive trio: relationship with major depression and clinical predictors in Han Chinese women

BACKGROUND

Previous studies support Beck's cognitive model of vulnerability to depression. However, the relationship between his cognitive triad and other clinical features and risk factors among those with major depression (MD) has rarely been systematically studied.

METHOD

The three key cognitive symptoms of worthlessness, hopelessness and helplessness were assessed during their lifetime worst episode in 1970 Han Chinese women with recurrent MD. Diagnostic and other risk factor information was assessed at personal interview. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression.

RESULTS

Compared to patients who did not endorse the cognitive trio, those who did had a greater number of DSM-IV A criteria, more individual depressive symptoms, an earlier age at onset, a greater number of episodes, and were more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for melancholia, postnatal depression, dysthymia and anxiety disorders. Hopelessness was highly related to all the suicidal symptomatology, with ORs ranging from 5.92 to 6.51. Neuroticism, stressful life events (SLEs) and a protective parental rearing style were associated with these cognitive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

During the worst episode of MD in Han Chinese women, the endorsement of the cognitive trio was associated with a worse course of depression and an increased risk of suicide. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism, many SLEs and high parental protectiveness were at increased risk for these cognitive depressive symptoms. As in Western populations, symptoms of the cognitive trio appear to play a central role in the psychopathology of MD in Chinese women.

Parenting and risk for mood, anxiety and substance use disorders: a study in population-based male twins

BACKGROUND

Previous studies consistently identified a relationship between parenting behavior and psychopathology. In this study, we extended prior analyses performed in female twins to a large sample of twins from male-male pairs.

METHODS

We used interview data on 2,609 adult male twins from a population-based twin registry. We examined the association between three retrospectively reported parenting dimensions (coldness, protectiveness, and authoritarianism) and lifetime history of seven common psychiatric and substance use disorders. Using univariate structural equation modeling, we also examined the influence of the genetic and environmental factors on parenting.

RESULTS

Examined individually, coldness was consistently associated with risk for a broad range of adult psychopathology. Averaged odds of psychiatric disorders associated with parenting were increased between 26 and 36 %. When the three parenting dimensions were examined together, coldness remained significant for major depression, phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. Controlling for other disorders, the associations between the parenting dimensions and psychopathology were non-specific. Twin fitting model demonstrated that modest heritability accounted for parenting, whereas most variance resulted from the non-shared environment.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our current and prior findings, there is broad similarity in the impact of parenting on adult psychopathology between men and women.

Association between morningness-eveningness and the severity of compulsive Internet use: the moderating role of gender and parenting style

BACKGROUND

Eveningness and Internet addiction are major concerns in adolescence and young adulthood. We investigated the relationship between morningness-eveningness and compulsive Internet use in young adults and explored the moderating effects of perceived parenting styles and family support on such relationships.

METHODS

The participants consisted of 2731 incoming college students (men, 52.4%; mean age, 19.4±3.6years) from a National University in Taiwan. Each participant completed the questionnaires, which included the Morningness-Eveningness Scale (MES), the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for Internet use (YBOCS-IU), the Parental Bonding Instrument for parenting style, the Family Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve questionnaire (APGAR) for perceived family support, and the Adult Self-Report Inventory-4 (ASRI-4) for psychopathology. The morning (n=459), intermediate (n=1878), and evening (n=394) groups were operationally defined by the MES t scores.

RESULTS

The results showed that eveningness was associated with greater weekend sleep compensation, increased compulsive Internet use, more anxiety, poorer parenting styles, and less family support; additionally, the most associated variables for increased compulsive Internet use were the tendency of eveningness, male gender, more anxiety symptoms, less maternal affection/care, and a lower level of perceived family support. The negative association between the morning type and compulsive Internet use severity escalated with increased maternal affection/care and decreased with increased perceived family support. The positive association between the evening type and compulsive Internet use severity declined with increased maternal protection. However, the father's parenting style did not influence the relationship between morningness-eveningness and compulsive Internet use severity.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings imply that sleep schedule and the parental and family process should be part of specific measures for prevention and intervention of compulsive Internet use.

Culture Moderates the Genetic and Environmental Etiologies of Parenting

A cultural behavior genetic approach was introduced as a prospective means to describe psychological differences between cultures. We compared genetic and environmental influences on remembered parenting for samples of twins from Japan and Sweden. Data were collected from 720 pairs of young adult Japanese twins and 824 pairs of adult Swedish twins using the Parental Bonding Instrument. In both samples, a very similar phenotypic factor structure was developed for maternal and paternal parenting. However, the genetic and environmental contributions were different. Parenting in Japan showed more genetic influences, whereas parenting in Sweden showed more shared environmental influences. Moreover, covariation among the six dimensions of parenting (i.e., maternal and paternal Warmth, Protectiveness, and Authoritarianism) was due to genetic correlations in Japan and to shared environmental correlations in Sweden. These results are consistent with the cultural psychology argument that parenting practices are child centered in Japan but parent centered in the West.

Perceived parenting and risk for major depression in Chinese women

BACKGROUND

In Western countries, a history of major depression (MD) is associated with reports of received parenting that is low in warmth and caring and high in control and authoritarianism. Does a similar pattern exist in women in China?

METHOD

Received parenting was assessed by a shortened version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in two groups of Han Chinese women: 1970 clinically ascertained cases with recurrent MD and 2597 matched controls. MD was assessed at personal interview.

RESULTS

Factor analysis of the PBI revealed three factors for both mothers and fathers: warmth, protectiveness, and authoritarianism. Lower warmth and protectiveness and higher authoritarianism from both mother and father were significantly associated with risk for recurrent MD. Parental warmth was positively correlated with parental protectiveness and negatively correlated with parental authoritarianism. When examined together, paternal warmth was more strongly associated with lowered risk for MD than maternal warmth. Furthermore, paternal protectiveness was negatively and maternal protectiveness positively associated with risk for MD.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the structure of received parenting is very similar in China and Western countries, the association with MD is not. High parental protectiveness is generally pathogenic in Western countries but protective in China, especially when received from the father. Our results suggest that cultural factors impact on patterns of parenting and their association with MD.

Can parental bonding be assessed in children? Factor structure and factorial invariance of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) between adults and children

This study examined the factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in the Greek population. Using confirmatory factor analysis different proposed models of the basic dimensions of PBI were evaluated. The results indicated that Kendler's three-factor (i.e. care, protectiveness and authoritarianism) solution was found to be more satisfactory than the other competing two-, three- and four-factor models. A second aim was the investigation of the factorial invariance of the PBI across different age groups (adults vs. children). The results revealed that PBI can be used in children samples (measurement invariance) but it seems that PBI latent variables may be perceived differently across different age groups (not structural invariance). The authors conclude that further research is needed in order to understand whether the differences are due to actual developmental changes in children's perceptions of the parent-child relationship or conceptual problems regarding the children's ability to conceive the PBI's theoretical constructs.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Parental Bonding Instrument

BACKGROUND

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) is a widely used assessment tool for measuring parental characteristics that affect parent-child bonds. The measure was developed for and has been most administered in Western populations. Psychometric analyses have yielded discrepant results as to whether the PBI is best represented by a two-factor model (care and overprotection) or a three-factor model (care, overprotection, and autonomy).

OBJECTIVES

Little is known about how the PBI performs in Chinese samples, and there is limited data from Eastern populations as a whole. The purpose of this study is to: (1) explore the data and identify the underlying structural model that best fits the Chinese culture, and (2) to further compare the factor structure that emerges in a Chinese sample with that which has emerged in other Eastern cultures (i.e., Japanese) and Western countries.

METHODS

The present study investigated the psychometric properties of a Chinese translation of the PBI among a sample (N=1417) of mothers of kindergarten children. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the most adequate model.

RESULTS

Results supported a four-factor model that included an indifference factor (χ(2)/df<3.0; RMSEA<0.06; SRMR<0.08). Both the two-factor and three-factor models performed poorly (χ(2)/df>5.0; RMSEA>0.08; SRMR>1.0; CFI<0.90 for both). In this sample, use of a Chinese translated version of the PBI was successful. Support for the four-factor model is consistent with findings from previous studies of Eastern populations and discrepant from those among Western samples.

CONCLUSIONS

The indifference factor may reflect aspects of parenting specific to Eastern cultures, which tend to value group cohesion over individualization and independence. More research is needed to determine whether these findings are generalizable to all Eastern countries and whether aspects of Chinese culture (e.g., the single-child law) produce unique effects that may impact PBI administration in China.

Correlates of gender dysphoria in Taiwanese university students

There have been no published reports regarding the epidemiological and psychiatric features of gender dysphoria in non-clinical young adults. The current study aimed to investigate the demographics, co-occurring psychiatric symptoms, and perceived parenting style and family support in Taiwanese young adults with gender dysphoria. The sample consisted of 5010 university freshmen (male, 51.6%) with a mean age of 19.6 years (SD = 2.7) from a national university in Taiwan. The questionnaires used for this university-based survey included the Adult Self Report Inventory-4 for psychopathology (including gender dysphoria), the Parental Bonding Instrument for parenting style, and the Family APGAR for perceived family support. Results showed that gender dysphoria was more prevalent in females (7.3%) than males (1.9%). Young adults with gender dysphoria were more likely to meet a wide but specific range of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms. The most significantly associated symptoms for males were agoraphobia, hypochondriasis, manic episode, and pathological gambling, and for females dissociative disorder, hypochondriasis, and body dysmorphic disorder. Both males and females with gender dysphoria perceived significantly less support from their families and less affection/care from both parents. Findings suggest that gender dysphoria, associated with a specific range of psychopathology and family/parenting dissatisfaction (with both similar and dissimilar patterns between sexes), is not uncommon in Taiwanese university students, particularly in females. This implies the importance of attention and specific measures to offset psychiatric conditions and to promote mental well-being of this population.

Individual and family correlates for cigarette smoking among Taiwanese college students

OBJECTIVE

This college-based questionnaire survey aimed to explore the individual, family, and peer correlates for cigarette smoking among first-year college students.

METHOD

The sample included 2918 first-year college students (males, 45.5%) recruited from a national university in Taiwan (participation rate, 79.1%). The participants reported on questions about various substances, attitudes toward substances, personality characteristics, psychopathology, suicidal behaviors, parenting style, family function and use of substances, and peer substance use.

RESULTS

There were 263 (9.0%; males, 70.6%) current smokers. Compared to nonsmokers, college smokers were more extraverted and neurotic, and showed less harm avoidance, and more novelty seeking in their personality. They had more hostile, somatic, depressive, paranoid, and psychotic symptoms in terms of psychopathology. Smokers were more likely to use other substances, and to have suicidal ideations, wishes, plans, and attempts. Smokers perceived lower family cohesion, less care from their fathers, and less overprotection from their mothers. They were more likely to have peers and family members who also smoked or used other substances. The most associated correlates were male sex, older age, other substance use, novelty seeking, suicidal ideation and attempts, sibling and peer substance use, a prosubstance attitude, and less maternal overprotection.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the association of cigarette use in Taiwanese young adults with several individual, family, and peer factors identified in Western studies. Intervention in cigarette use should be multifaceted, by taking its correlates and the concurrent psychopathology, use of substances, and suicidality into consideration.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a Brazilian female population

OBJECTIVE

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) is a widely used measure of parenting. Recent studies have proposed different factor structures. There is a disagreement in the literature about whether the PBI is best used as a two-factor or a three-factor measure.

METHOD

Two hundred and fifty-seven female adults were recruited from a clinical population (139 psychiatric patients and 118 controls) and were requested to complete the PBI. Maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analyses were performed to compare the five different factor structures in terms of model fit.

RESULTS

The poorest fit to the data was obtained by the Parker et al. model. The Kendler model was the only model that had an adjusted goodness-of-fit index >0.8 regarding both paternal and maternal PBI. When considering invariance of factor structure across age subgroups, the Kendler model was also the only acceptable model.

CONCLUSION

Three-factor structures are preferable to two-factor structures. The Kendler model was the only one to provide an acceptable fit, but it must be considered that it was a female sample, and when considering gender subgroups other studies have found the same results. Despite the gender limitation, the present study contributes to a better understanding and use of the PBI in Brazilian samples.

Adverse parenting as a risk factor in the occurrence of anxiety disorders : a study in six European countries

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to test the homogeneity of the association between adverse parenting and anxiety disorders within these disorders as well as among six European countries.

METHOD

Based on data from 8,232 respondents (part II sample) originating from the European study of the epidemiology of mental disorders (ESEMeD), we examined the association between three dimensions of parental rearing (care, overprotection, authoritarianism) measured by a short form of the parental bonding instrument (PBI) and anxiety disorders by computing one logistic regression model per disorder.

RESULTS

A similar pattern of recalled parenting behaviour across the four anxiety disorders assessed was found, with care and overprotection having the strongest associations. There were only minor country-specific variations of this pattern.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest an association between adverse parenting and the risk of anxiety disorders in particular as well as psychiatric disorders in general that is rather non-disorder specific.

Perceived parental bonding, fear of failure and stress during class presentations

The purpose of the present studies was to test the hypothesis that students' perceptions of parental bonding may be predictive of how individuals approach achievement situations. It was hypothesized that reports of parental overprotection would be predictive of elevated fears and subsequent stress and low achievement compared to perceived parental care. No hypotheses were specified regarding the gender of the parent. In Study 1 participants were 230 elementary school students who were assessed on motivation, stress and affect prior to a “high stakes testing”. Results indicated that paternal caring scores and, to a lesser degree, maternal caring scores were associated with lower levels of fear of failure, anxiety and depression. In Study 2, 58 college students were monitored (physiologically) during a class presentation in order to test the hypothesis that perceived parental rearing is predictive of stress through influencing fear of failure. Results from Multilevel Random Coefficient Modeling showed that perceived parental caring was associated with significantly lessened stress compared to perceived overprotection. Modeling the relationships using Structural Equation Modeling indicated that students reporting an overprotective parental style approached the task with significantly elevated fears, had elevated stress during the task, and lower task performance. Another salient finding was that students' perceptions of their fathers' parenting style was highly predictive of the stress response. The discussion reviews these findings and examines possible implications for enhancing achievement motivation in educational contexts.

A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE KUWAIT UNIVERSITY ANXIETY SCALE

A sample of 2,754 male and female undergraduate students from 9 different Arab countries responded to the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS: Abdel-Khalek, 2000). This study extends the exploratory factor analyses performed in previous studies, using confirmatory factor analysis to test four models derived from Kuwaiti, Saudi, German and American samples. Four measures were used to assess the goodness of fit as follows: the Comparative Fit Index (Hu & Bentler, 1999), the Root Mean Square Errors of Approximation (Gao et al., 2004), the Normed Fit Index, and the Goodness of Fit (Sanders et al., 2005). In applying these measures, it was found that the Saudi three-factor model is an optimal model. It is particularly noteworthy that the Saudi factorial pattern was based on a large sample size (N = 9,031). By and large, the present results confirmed that the best fitted model on the KUAS was the threefactor model, namely, Cognitive/affective, Tension/nervousness, and Somatic anxiety.

Retrospective reports of parenting in depressed adults with and without comorbid panic disorder and social anxiety disorder

Previous research has examined the role of parenting in the development of depression and anxiety disorders using retrospective reports of parenting behaviors. However, most studies have not considered comorbidity; the few that have did not differentially examine individual anxiety disorders and yielded inconsistent results. The present study compared retrospective parenting reports given by depressed individuals with no comorbid anxiety disorder, comorbid panic disorder, and comorbid social anxiety disorder. Results indicated that depressed men with panic disorder reported significantly greater maternal and nonsignificantly greater paternal protectiveness than depressed men without panic disorder but not than depressed women with and without panic disorder. No differences were found for the retrospective parenting reports given by depressed participants with or without social anxiety disorder. This work highlights the importance of examining specific anxiety disorders rather than grouping all depressed patients with any anxiety disorder together, as well as examining males and females separately when investigating the influence of parental behavior.

Factorial structure of the parental bonding instrument (PBI) in Japan: a study of cultural, developmental, and gender influences

This study explored the factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in the Japanese population. Several differences between the structure model in the current study and Parker et al.'s original model were identified. We also examined the adaptability of the inventory to children currently being raised by parents. We also developed a structural equation model that takes into account the impacts of the respondents' generation and gender and the caregivers' gender. The cultural, developmental, generational, and gender influences on the factorial structure of the PBI as well as the implications for clinical settings were discussed.

Translation and equivalence assessment for a Japanese version of the modified parental nurturance scale: a comparative study

Background

This paper reports on the modification of the Parental Nurturance Scale (PNS), translation of the modified version (PNSM) from English to Japanese, and equivalence assessment between the PNSM and the translated version (PNSM-J). The PNS was modified so as to enable its use in nurturance studies where the prime source of nurturance might vary between respondents.

Method

It was translated into Japanese through the forward-backward translation procedure. With attempting to enhance representativeness of language in the target populations, translators used were married couples that consisted of a native English speaker and a native Japanese speaker. Multiple translations were produced and used to make a single Japanese version. A panel of reviewers identified problems in conceptual and semantic equivalence between the original and the translated versions. The Japanese version was altered accordingly with reference to alternate Japanese forms from the original English to Japanese translations. The altered translation was again re-translated into English and problematic differences were checked. This forward-backward process was repeated until satisfactory agreement was attained. The PNSM was administered to 222 native English speakers and the PNSM-J to 1320 native Japanese speakers.

Results

Factor analysis and target rotation revealed a nearly identical factor structure and factor loadings of the items of the PNSM and PNSM-J between the different cultural groups. High Cronbach's alpha coefficient supported the reliability of the test scores on both versions.

Conclusion

The equivalence between the two scales was supported. It is suggested that the PNSM and PNSM-J are suitable tools for comparative cross-cultural studies.

Parental bonding and suicidality in adulthood

OBJECTIVE

The short-term effect of an adverse parental child rearing style on suicidality in adolescence has been extensively discussed. Nevertheless, little is known about the long-term effect of adverse parental child rearing on lifetime suicidality in adulthood. So the present study aims to examine the relation between parental bonding on the one hand and suicidality in adulthood on the other.

METHOD

We used data from 7740 respondents of the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders project, a cross-sectional household survey carried out in six European countries. The data were assessed with the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a comprehensive, fully structured psychiatric diagnostic interview. Suicidality was categorized as follows: 'no ideation', 'ideation', 'attempt'. Parental bonding was assessed by means of a three-factor ('care', 'overprotection', 'authoritarianism') short form of the Parental Bonding Instrument. Using a multinomial-logistic regression model to investigate the association between these two constructs, we also adjusted for mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse/dependence and possible country effects.

RESULTS

We found associations between low maternal and paternal care on the one hand and suicidality on the other. Country-specific differences proved negligible.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention programs can help better equip parents in their child-rearing role to create a more caring parenting environment. This can be a protective factor for suicidality in adulthood. Nevertheless, more efforts are necessary to better describe the paths that lead from child-rearing behaviour to suicidality in adulthood.

Relationship between parental bonding and mood disorder in six European countries

The linkage between adverse parental child-rearing styles and the occurrence of mood disorders in adulthood has been investigated in a number of studies from different countries and cultural backgrounds. However, as direct cross-cultural comparisons hardly exist, little is known about cultural variations of this relationship. The European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD) is a cross-sectional study in a stratified multi-stage random sample of 21,425 adults (18 years or older) from the general population of six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain). Parental child-rearing styles were measured by means of a short form of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in 8,232 of the respondents. Based on the extraction and confirmation of a three-factor model of the PBI in a previous study, the association between parental bonding and mood disorders was studied by computing hierarchical nested multiple logistic regression models. The relationship between parental child-rearing styles and mood disorders was mostly homogeneous across the six countries. The PBI dimensions maternal and paternal care had the strongest associations with mood disorders. A significant association of overprotection was observable only for the mother. There was no significant relationship between authoritarianism and the occurrence of mood disorders. In the European countries studied, the association between parental child-rearing styles and the occurrence of mood disorders appears not to be culture-dependent. It would be of interest to assess whether this also holds for the rest of Europe and non-European countries.

Long-term stability of parental representations in depressed outpatients utilizing the Parental Bonding Instrument

This study addressed two questions: (a) What are the 30-month, 60-month, and 90-month test-retest reliabilities of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI); and (b) are recollections of parental bonding stable across changes in the level of depressed mood? Participants included 97 outpatients with primary early-onset dysthymic disorder and 45 outpatients with episodic major depressive disorder. Follow-ups were conducted at 30, 60, and 90 months after entry into the study. The PBI was scored using both the original two-factor model and a three-factor solution. As indexed by intraclass correlations, stability for the original two-factor model ranged from .64 to .88, with a median of .77. The intraclass correlations for the three-factor model ranged from .54 to .87, with a median of .73. The intraclass correlations were generally higher between adjacent assessments, but the decrease over increasingly longer intervals was quite small. Overall, the results indicated that the PBI is highly stable for intervals as long as 90 months. In addition, reports of parental bonding were relatively stable despite significant changes in the level of depressed mood. Thus, the present study provides evidence for the long-term stability of parental representations, as measured by the PBI, in depressed outpatients.

Evidence of increased sensitivity using a three-factor version of the Parental Bonding Instrument

Despite the wide use of the Parental Bonding Instrument, there is a controversy as to whether it should be viewed as measuring two or three factors. Recent studies using confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a three-factor model (warmth, protectiveness, and authoritarianism), proposed by Kendler (1996), provided the best fit to the data. The present study was designed to address the following question: Does the three-factor model provide a greater understanding of the relationships between the parental bonding factors and different types of depression when compared to the two-factor structure? Participants included 97 outpatients with early-onset dysthymic disorder (DD), 45 outpatients with episodic major depressive disorder (MDD), and 45 healthy control subjects. The results indicated that the three-factor model revealed associations between parenting behaviors and different types of depression that were not evident using the two-factor structure's original dimensions.

Influences of parenting on normal personality traits

There is a considerable literature linking aspects of experienced parenting to later personality disorders. Because dimensionally measured personality disorders are associated with variations in normal personality traits, it is important to understand the contribution of parenting experienced in childhood to later normal personality traits. In this report, 742 community-based individuals, subjects from the Hopkins Epidemiology of Personality Disorders Study, were assessed for normal personality traits, as measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and for parental behavior experienced as children, as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The PBI dimensions were significantly, but moderately, correlate with measures of normal personality, the strongest associations being with the NEO-PI-R factors, neuroticism and conscientiousness, and with the TCI factors, self-directedness and harm avoidance. Subjects who reported lower parental care and higher parental intrusiveness were more likely to be higher in neuroticism, lower in conscientiousness, lower in self-directedness, and higher in harm avoidance. Also, trends emerged suggesting both parent-specific and gender-specific differences in the relationship between the PBI dimensions and normal adult personality traits. As variations in normal personality traits are associated with dimensionally measured personality disorders, it is conceivable that the role of parenting in later personality disorder may be mediated by associations between parenting and normal personality traits.

Adult antisocial personality traits are associated with experiences of low parental care and maternal overprotection

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of parenting in the development of adult antisocial personality traits.

METHOD

A total of 742 community-based subjects were assessed for adult DSM-IV antisocial personality disorder traits and for measures of parental behavior experienced as children, including by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI).

RESULTS

Three fundamental dimensions of parental behavior - care, behavioral restrictiveness and denial of psychological autonomy - were derived by factor analysis from the PBI. These dimensions significantly correlated with measures of parental behavior considered influential in later antisocial behavior. Adult antisocial traits in males were associated with low maternal care and high maternal behavioral restrictiveness, and in females, antisocial traits were associated with low paternal care and high maternal denial of psychological autonomy. These dimensions did not, however, explain all variance parental behavior has on adult antisocial personality traits.

CONCLUSION

Adult antisocial personality traits are associated with experiences of low parental care and maternal overprotection.