Parental Bonding and Relationships with Friends and Siblings in Adolescents with Depression

According to attachment theory, the quality of the early child-parent bond determines the child’s interpersonal relationships later in life. Utilising data from The First Experimental Study of Transference Work-In Teenagers (FEST-IT), the current paper investigated the connection between the self-reported quality of bonding with mother and father and the self-reported importance of relationships with friends and siblings in adolescents with depression. The scales employed were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the Adolescent Relationship scale (ARS). A Pearson’s correlation tested the relationship between the reported levels of maternal and paternal care and control, and the reported importance of friendship and relationship with siblings. Results revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between high levels of maternal control and importance of friendship, and a statistically significant positive correlation between high levels of paternal care and importance of relationships with siblings. The results are in line with Bowlby’s theory of attachment.