Relationship Between Parental Attachment in Early Life and Perceived Social Support in Adults

Abstract

This research is aimed to investigate the relationship between parental attachment in early life and perceived social support in adults. It was hypothesized that there will be a significant relationship between parental attachment in early life and perceived social support in adults. Convenient sampling was used to select 100 participants, the age ranged from 18-25 years, which were selected from private universities in Karachi city. Parental Attachment was measured through Parental attachment Questionnaire (PAQ) (Kenny, 1987) and Perceived Social Support was assessed using Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). A Multiple Hierarchal Regression analysis showed that a significant relationship (p<0.01) exists between Parental Attachment in early life and Perceived Social Support in adults. The results emphasized that maternal attachment has found to be dominant as compared to paternal attachment. This study demonstrates the substantial relationship between parental attachment and perception of social support in adults. Implications and suggestions for future empirical exploration of the constructs are also discussed.