Effects of Intergenerational Parenting on Children's Attachment Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

Intergenerational parenting which affects children's attachment behaviors has become one of the major forms of family education in China. The attachment behaviors that are typically observed in close relationships are associated with basic psychological needs. To explore these relationships, this study investigates how intergenerational parenting and basic psychological needs affect children's attachment behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze what is developed by the proposed hypotheses. There were 300 primary school students participating in this study. The Kens Security Scale, the Chinese version of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale, and the Grandparenting Styles Questionnaire were used. Trust-encourage style and affection-wormed style were positively associated with basic psychological needs and attachment behaviors, but indulgence style but authoritarian and neglecting styles were negatively correlated with basic psychological needs and attachment behaviors. Basic psychological needs were positively correlated with attachment behaviors and mediate the effects of different styles of intergenerational parenting on attachment behaviors. Five intergenerational parenting styles influenced children’s attachment behaviors by mediating basic psychological needs differently. This study also demonstrated the direct influence of intergenerational parenting on attachment, in turn, gives reference to the advancement of children’s attachment behavior.