A Cross-Cultural Study on Attachment and Adjustment Difficulties in Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Self-Control in Italy, Spain, China, and Poland

Elisa Mancinelli, Hanna D. Liberska, Jian-Bin Li, José P. Espada, Elisa Delvecchio, Claudia Mazzeschi, Adriana Lis and Silvia Salcuni
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Elisa Mancinelli: Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Hanna D. Liberska: Department of Social Psychology and Research on Youth, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85064 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Jian-Bin Li: Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
José P. Espada: Department of Health Psychology, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03202 Elche, Spain
Elisa Delvecchio: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Claudia Mazzeschi: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Adriana Lis: Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Silvia Salcuni: Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-19

Abstract: From a socio-ecological perspective, individuals are influenced by the interplay of individual, relational, and societal factors operating as a broader system. Thereby, to support youth adjustment during the critical adolescence period, the interplay between these factors should be investigated. This study aimed to investigate cross-cultural differences in adolescents’ maternal and paternal attachment, adolescents’ adjustment difficulties and self-control, and in their association. N = 1000 adolescents (mean (M) age = 16.94, SD = 0.48; 45.90% males) from China, Italy, Spain, and Poland participated by completing self-report measures. Results showed cross-country similarities and differences among the considered variables and their associative pattern. Moreover, conditional process analysis evaluating the association between maternal vs. paternal attachment and adjustment difficulties, mediated by self-control, and moderated by country, was performed. Maternal attachment directly, and indirectly through greater self-control, influenced adjustment difficulties in all four countries. This association was stronger among Spaniards. Paternal attachment influenced directly, and indirectly through self-control, on adolescents’ adjustment difficulties only in Italy, Spain, and Poland, and was stronger among Polish adolescents. For Chinese adolescents, paternal attachment solely associated with adjustment difficulties when mediated by self-control. Thus, results highlighted both similarities and differences across countries in the interplay between maternal vs. paternal attachment and self-control on adolescents’ adjustment difficulties. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: attachment; self-control; adjustment difficulties; adolescence; cultural differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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