Attachment and Mother-Child Communication in Adjustment to the Death of a Father Among Cambodian Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined quality of attachment to the mother and child-mother communication in adolescents' adjustment to the death of a father. Forty-eight Cambodian adolescents whose father had died within the previous 3 years completed a set of measures that included attachment, communication, grief, and self-esteem. Results showed that quality of attachment to the mother and whether the adolescent communicated with the mother about the father and found this to be helpful were positively related to adaptive grief and self-esteem. Moreover, support was shown for an indirect effect of quality of attachment to the mother on adaptive grief as mediated by communication. Implications of the findings for quality of attachment in adjustment to bereavement in a non-Western cultural context are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent bereavement
• attachment
• Cambodia
• death of a parent
• parent-child communication

Notes

##*p < .05; **p < .01.

##*p < .05; ***p < .001.

Note. Standard errors are in parentheses.

##p < .05; **p < .01.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nigel P. Field

Nigel P. Field is a professor of clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. His research focus is in bereavement and intergenerational effects of trauma.

Edia Tzadikario

Edia Tzadikario is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. Her research interest is in intergenerational effects of trauma.

Dalen Pel

Dalen Pel is a faculty member at the Institute of Foreign Languages, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her research interest is in attachment as a resilience factor in adjustment to trauma.

Thearom Ret

Thearom Ret is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His research interests are in the area of childhood trauma as a risk factor in psychopathology.