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| Published: September 30, 2024
Attachment Styles in Female Adolescents: A Comparative Analysis of Girls in Alternative Care Settings and Traditional Homes
Mahindra International School, Pune Google Scholar More about the auther
DIP: 18.01.321.20241203
DOI: 10.25215/1203.321
ABSTRACT
Attachment theory proposed by Bowlby and Ainsworth suggests that early relationships and bonds formed with primary guardians/parents/caregivers are the foundation and baseline for future relationships of children, and emotional well-being during their adulthood. The possibility that children living in alternative care settings have different experiences than those living in commonly seen home settings may develop attachment styles differently and possibly is a phenomenon that needs to be explored, as it is critical to understand how attachment styles in these environments impact psychological well-being. This study investigates the nature of the relationship between attachment styles and psychological well-being among teenagers in alternative care settings compared to those in traditional family settings. A sample of 40 females aged 13-18 was surveyed using the Attachment Style Questionnaire by (Oudenhoven, Hofstra and Bakker (2003)), with participants 20 participants from the Maher Vatsalyadham Orphanage in Pune, divided into a control group (living with parents) and an experimental group (residents of an orphanage). Significant differences were observed in some subscales of attachment styles between the two groups, suggesting that the care setting impacts attachment styles and, subsequently, psychological well-being. Understanding these differences can inspire the publishing of more well-being and positive reinforcement interventions aimed at improving emotional support in alternative care settings.
Keywords
Attachment theory, Attachment styles, Psychological well-being, Alternative care settings, Orphanage, Adolescents, Emotional support, Caregivers, Family settings
This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2024, Bora, A.
Received: September 06, 2024; Revision Received: September 27, 2024; Accepted: September 30, 2024
Article Overview
ISSN 2348-5396
ISSN 2349-3429
18.01.321.20241203
10.25215/1203.321
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Published in Volume 12, Issue 3, July-September, 2024