Buffering and ambiguity effects of maternal warmth on associations between psychological control and child attachment in a cross-national perspective

Katarzyna Lubiewska (), Marta Żegleń, Karolina Głogowska, Nebi Sümer and Yanina Kashuba
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Katarzyna Lubiewska: University of Warsaw
Marta Żegleń: University of Warsaw
Karolina Głogowska: Kazimierz Wielki University
Nebi Sümer: Sabanci University
Yanina Kashuba: University of Warsaw

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Although warmth and psychological control are core parenting dimensions, their combined effect on child attachment is not well recognized, yet needed to understand complex parenting processes that may lead to the development of attachment security and insecurity in childhood. Results of previous studies support two mechanisms. Firstly, the buffering model reveals that parental warmth mitigates the negative effects of maternal psychological control on child attachment. Secondly, the ambiguity model indicates that parental warmth boosts negative effects of psychological control on child attachment. Studies also suggest that the eco-cultural context of parenting may explain when and why one of these models is more adaptive than the other. Building on previous studies, it was hypothesized that the ambiguity model will be evidenced in the Netherlands and Norway, whereas the buffering model in Turkey, Belarus, and Poland. To test the hypothesis, two data sets utilizing a multi-informant, multi-measure, and multi-age approach were analyzed. It allowed us to compare reports of the current maternal parenting experience in middle childhood (Study 1) against retrospective memories of maternal parenting in adulthood (Study 2). Data were collected from 758 Dutch, Polish, and Turkish mother-child dyads in Study 1, and from 307 adults in Poland, Belarus and Norway in Study 2. Results supported the ambiguity model in middle childhood in the Polish and Turkish mother-child dyads, and in the Norwegian group of adults. The buffering model was supported in the Dutch mother-child dyads, as well as in the Belarusian and Polish samples of adult children who recalled their childhood parenting experiences following the collapse of communism in Poland and during the ongoing dictatorship in Belarus. These results extend previous studies highlighting the importance of socio-political context of parenting and cultural specificity of attachment development.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05477-5

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