Attachment, psychological health and adjustment in Malaysian adolescents

While there has been considerable research into adolescent attachment in Western contexts little is known about this important relationship construct and its impact on adolescent adjustment in Asian settings. This thesis explores the attachment relationships of adolescents and their association with psychological health and adjustment in Malaysian culture. Specifically, relationship specific attachments (maternal, paternal and peer) and their influences on adolescent self-esteem and depression are examined. Three studies were conducted involving two samples of school-going adolescents (13 to 17 years) randomly selected from urban and rural areas across Malaysia. Using data from the first sample (N=2040), Study 1 and 2 explore the psychometric properties of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and evaluate a structural, meditational model of the relationships between maternal, paternal, and peer attachment and self-esteem and depression. The second sample (N=973) participated in Study 3, which explores the psychometric properties of an alternative measure of adolescent attachment relationships, the Domains of Adolescent Attachment Scale (DAAS), and evaluates a meditational model of attachment relationships and psychological health. The results of the first two studies reveal that the standard structure of the IPPA was not applicable in Malaysian adolescents. Contrary to Western findings, this study found that a different three-factor structure for the parental scales and two-factor structure for the Peer scale best fit the Malaysian data. Based on a new factor structure of the IPPA, a model of attachment relationships, self-esteem and depression was evaluated. Analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that major adjustments were required to the proposed model. An alternative measurement model was developed and evaluated which focused on common factors rather than attachment to specific figures. This measurement model resulted in an acceptable goodness-of-fit for the overall model. Findings suggest that adolescents with secure attachment relationships are psychologically healthier and that self-esteem meditates the relationship between attachment and depression. However, some paths in the model varied across age and gender with the influence of attachment relationships on self-esteem and depression appearing stronger for females and younger adolescents. Study 3 found that the DAAS had a similar factor structure to the original scale evaluated on Australian adolescents, after deleting several items from the Paternal, Maternal and Best Friend scales. SEM supported a meditational model that remained stable across age and gender of adolescents. Consistent with expectations, adolescents with secure parental attachment relationships reported higher self-esteem and fewer depressive symptoms. Interestingly, father attachment was found to have a larger influence on adolescents' psychological health than mother attachment. Contrary to expectations, best friend attachment did not show any significant influence on adolescents' psychological health. The thesis highlights the importance of secure attachment relationships for the psychological health and adjustment of Malaysian adolescents. Further, the findings implicate the important role that cultural factors may have in adolescent attachment representations. It is argued that future research should consider cultural factors when assessing attachment, particularly adolescent attachment, as findings generated in Western settings may not always translate directly to Asian contexts