Relationship Between Father-Child Attachment and Adolescents’ Anxiety: The Bidirectional Chain Mediating Roles of Neuroticism and Peer Attachment

Abstract

Cong Peng,1 Yan Liu,2 Yuqin Zhou,3 Zhenyun Zhang4 1School of Education and Psychology, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, 432000, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Education, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Foreign Languages, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, 432000, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Computer and Information Science, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, 432000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cong Peng; Zhenyun Zhang, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Adolescent anxiety is closely associated with the quality of parent-child attachment. However, previous studies have predominantly focused on the impact of mother-child attachment. Little is known about the direct and indirect associations of father-child attachment on adolescent anxiety.Purpose: This study aims to investigate the association and underlying mechanisms that link father-child attachment and adolescent anxiety. A bidirectional chain mediating model was constructed to test whether neuroticism and peer attachment play bidirectional mediating roles in father-child attachment and adolescent anxiety.Methods: The proposed model was examined among 763 adolescents aged 11− 16 years (male 53.1%) from four middle schools in Central China. Students completed questionnaires on father-child attachment, anxiety, neuroticism and peer attachment. The correlation and bidirectional chain mediating effect analyses were conducted using SPSS Process.Results: (1) Father-child attachment negatively correlated with adolescent anxiety and neuroticism, and positively correlated with peer attachment; (2) Father-child attachment had an indirect association on adolescent anxiety through three pathways: a partial mediating effect on neuroticism, a partial mediating effect on peer attachment, and a bidirectional chain mediating effect involving both neuroticism and peer attachment.Conclusion: This study revealed father-child attachment has an indirect association with adolescent anxiety through the bidirectional chain mediation of neuroticism and peer attachment. These empirical findings shed light on the intricate dynamic between father-child attachment and anxiety among Chinese adolescents, highlighting the crucial role of fathers in the prevention and reduction of adolescent anxiety from the perspectives of father-child dynamics, personal traits, and interpersonal relationships.Keywords: father-child attachment, adolescent anxiety, neuroticism, peer attachment, bidirectional chain mediating effect

Keywords

• father-child attachment
• adolescent anxiety
• neuroticism
• peer attachment
• bidirectional chain mediating effect