Influence of Parental Attachment on Emotional Regulation and Decision-Making among Young Adults

Abstract

Parenting is a very difficult task as it takes more than just meeting the basic survival needs of the child. Parental attachment styles or the love and affection that a child gets from his parents during childhood can have a great impact on his/her overall performance in the future. . The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of parental (secure) attachment on emotional regulation and decision-making among young adults (18 to 25 years old). The Parental Attachment Questionnaire, Emotional Regulation Questionnaire and Iowa Gambling Pebl Task were used for measuring the criterion variables. Convenience sampling method was used. Correlation and t-test were calculated and it was found that there was a positive correlation of cognitive reappraisal with mothers as the facilitators of independence as well as source of support. It was also found that there was a positive correlation of cognitive reappraisal with fathers as a source of support and affective quality of relationship. Results also revealed that there are gender differences in Mother's Affective Quality of Relationship and source of support, Father's Affective Quality of Relationship, facilitators of Independence