Attachment Theory as a Lens to Explain Accommodation, Nonaccommodation, and Loneliness in Relationships between Middle-Aged Parents and Young Adult Children

ABSTRACT

The role of individual differences in shaping family members’ experiences has only been sporadically examined in research on communication accommodation theory. This dyadic study (N = 126 middle-aged parents and 126 young adult children) investigated the relationship between parents’ and children’s attachment anxiety and avoidance and self-reported loneliness, and the roles of accommodation and nonaccommodation within that. Among other findings, parents’ attachment anxiety and avoidance positively predicted parents’ perceptions of receiving overaccommodation and underaccommodation, as well as children’s perceptions of receiving underaccommodation. Both parties’ perceptions of receiving underaccommodation positively predicted children’s loneliness. Post-hoc indirect associations suggested that children’s attachment anxiety and avoidance indirectly predicted both parties’ perceptions of receiving underaccommodation, via children’s loneliness. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications of attachment and loneliness for communication accommodation theory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This is the second study from the data set. The other study from the data set contributed to affection exchange theory rather than CAT or attachment theory. It examined how receptions of affectionate communication are associated with risky driving behaviors. The author of the study is Quinten Bernhold, and the study is entitled “Parents’ and Children’s Affectionate Communication and Risky Driving Behaviors: A Dyadic Investigation.” It has been accepted for presentation on November 19, 2021 in the Family Communication Division of the annual conference of the National Communication Association in Seattle, WA.

2. There were “Not Applicable” options to the favoritism and negative remark items for participants who came from families with only one parent or only one child.

3. Given the data’s correlational nature, six post-hoc APIMs were run. Each post-hoc model included one variant of attachment as the predictors, loneliness as the mediators, and one variant of communication as the outcomes. The purpose of these models was to determine if the (theoretical) causal ordering (i.e., attachment → communication → loneliness) fit the data better, or if an alternative causal ordering (i.e., attachment → loneliness → communication) fit the data better. The Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were compared between each theoretically proposed model and its corresponding post-hoc model with the same variables. For five of the six comparisons, the AIC and BIC were lower in absolute value in the theoretically proposed models, but the differences were very small (typically less than one point). Of particular note in the post-hoc models, nine of the 48 indirect associations (18.75%) were significant. Seven of the nine indirect associations involved children’s attachment and loneliness: Children’s attachment anxiety was indirectly associated with (a) children’s perceptions of receiving accommodation, (b) parents’ perceptions of receiving overaccommodation, (c) children’s perceptions of receiving underaccommodation, and (d) parents’ perceptions of receiving underaccommodation, via children’s loneliness. Children’s attachment avoidance was indirectly associated with (a) children’s perceptions of receiving accommodation, (b) children’s perceptions of receiving underaccommodation, and (c) parents’ perceptions of receiving underaccommodation, via children’s loneliness. Additionally, parents’ attachment anxiety and avoidance were indirectly associated with parents’ perceptions of receiving accommodation, via parents’ loneliness. Fit indices, path coefficients, and indirect associations for the post-hoc models are available via e-mail upon request.