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Abstract
Objective: The aim was to revise the dimensionality of the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ) assessing adult attachment and relate it to parenting stress within a large sample of parents of toddlers. Methods: As part of a longitudinal population-based study, 8122 parents (97% mothers) completed the 18-item version of RSQ and the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ) when their child was 2–3 years of age. Results: Exploratory factor analyses gave three uncorrelated RSQ factors named (1) Importance of Independence, (2) Relationship-related Anxiety, and (3) Discomfort with Closeness, with Cronbach’s α ⩾ 0.65. In a linear regression Parenting Stress was most closely related to Relationship-related Anxiety (b = 0.20, t = 39.0), weaker associations were found with the attachment dimensions capturing avoidance: Importance of Independence (b = 0.07, t = 13.40) and Discomfort with Closeness (b = 0.07, t = 12.04). The SPSQ subscales Incompetence (R 2 = 17%) and Social Isolation (R 2 = 22%) showed stronger association with adult attachment than the remaining three. Conclusion: The agreement with previous findings in other study populations indicates that substantial and meaningful dimensions of attachment have been captured. Attachment anxiety and discomfort with closeness seem to have an important relationship with the perception of parenting stress, especially concerning feelings of incompetence and social isolation.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the parents for their participation in ABIS. We also thank the staff and nurses at the 250 well-baby clinics and the ABIS research nurses for their help in logistics and data collection. We also thank Professor Ann Frodi for valuable expertise and constructive ideas. The current work was generously supported by the Swedish Research council (K2005-72X-11242-11A, K2008-69X-20826-01-4) and the Swedish Child Diabetes Association (Barndiabetesfonden). ABIS has also been generously supported by JDRF Wallenberg Foundation (K 98-99D-12813-01A), Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden (FORSS), and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS2004-1775). None of the authors have any conflict of interests to disclose.