CULTURE, PARENTAL ATTACHMENT, AND TRAIT ANXIETY: A .

CULTURE, PARENTAL ATTACHMENT, AND TRAIT ANXIETY: ACOMPARISON OF LATINO-AND CAUCASIAN AMERICANSByDEBORAH T. TOWNSENDA THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOLOF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENTOF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFMASTER OF SCIENCEUNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA2004

Copyright 2004byDEBORAH T. TOWNSEND

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to thank several individuals who have supported me throughout thecourse of this research. First, I would like to thank Dr. Kenneth Rice for providing mewith a secure base from which to venture into the world of psychological research. Iwould also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Bonnie Moradi and Dr. ScottMiller, for providing me with invaluable knowledge and experience. Many thanks go toDr. John Christopher and the Department for Residence Education, and Leonardo Suarezfor their helpful assistance with data collection. Finally, I would like to thank my family,friends, and especially my husband, Josiah Townsend, for serving as the most importantsupport system I have had throughout this process.iii

TABLE OF CONTENTSpageACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iiiABSTRACT. viiCHAPTER1INTRODUCTION .12LITERATURE REVIEW .4Attachment.4Culture and Attachment.5Attachment and Adjustment .8Acculturation .123METHODOLOGY .15Participants .15Instruments .16Parental Attachment .16Anxiety .17Acculturation .18Social Desirability .19Demographics.19Power Analysis .204RESULTS .22Descriptive Statistics and Reliability of Measures .22Preliminary Analyses.22Regression Analyses.24Exploratory Analyses.275DISCUSSION.28APPENDIXAPARENTAL ATTACHMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (PAQ) .33BSTEPHENSON MULTIGROUP ACCULTURATION SCALE (SMAS) .37iv

CTHE MARLOWE-CROWNE SOCIAL DESIRABILITY SCALE.39DDEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION .41EPARENTAL ATTACHMENT QUESTIONNAIRE-SPANISH.42FSTEPHENSON MULTIGROUP ACCULTURATION SCALE - SPANISH.44GMARLOWE-CROWNE SOCIAL DESIRABILITY SCALE-SPANISH .46HDEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-SPANISH .48IINFORMED CONSENT FORM.49JFORMULARIO DE APROBACIÓN INFORMADO .51LIST OF REFERENCES.53BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .60v

LIST OF TABLESTablepage3-1Demographics Based on Race/Ethnicity .154-1Descriptive Statistics and Internal Consistency Estimates.224-2Correlations Between Parental Attachment, Dominant Society Immersion, TraitAnxiety, and Social Desirability Measures for Caucasian and Latino Persons .234-3Moderating Effect of Acculturation on the Relation Between Attachment andTrait Anxiety .26vi

Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate Schoolof the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of theRequirements for the Degree of Master of ScienceCULTURE, PARENTAL ATTACHMENT, AND TRAIT ANXIETY: ACOMPARISON OF LATINO- AND CAUCASIAN-AMERICANSByDeborah T. TownsendDecember 2004Chair: Kenneth G. RiceMajor Department: PsychologyThe universality of the attachment construct has been disputed by researchers inrecent years due to cultural differences among ethnic groups. This study assessed therelationship between attachment and anxiety in Caucasian and Latino college studentsamples. Further, acculturation was explored as a possible moderator of this relationship.After analyzing the data using hierarchical regression procedures, acculturation as amoderator of the relationship between attachment and anxiety was not supported.However, acculturation did appear to account for a significant amount of variance inanxiety over and above attachment solely for the Latino sample. These results may haveimplications for the future conceptualization of attachment in minority populations andmay elucidate the role of acculturation as a significant source of anxiety for Latinopersons.vii

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTIONThe terms Hispanic/Latino are used to define those who classify themselves asMexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban, as well as those whoclassify themselves as being from the Spanish-speaking countries of Central and SouthAmerica, Spain, and the Dominican Republic (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). Thispopulation is steadily increasing in the United States. By the end of the year 2050, theLatino population is estimated to become 24.5% of the United States population and willbe the largest minority group in the nation (Eitzen & Zinn, 2002). Because of this andother changes in the demographic landscape of the U.S., psychologists will need to beincreasingly aware of the roles that culture and ethnicity can play in individual andinterpersonal functioning.Researchers have suggested that culture influences communication patterns,expression of feelings, behavior, norms, and family roles (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993;Pedersen, 1991; Solomon, 1992), or, in attachment-theory terms, culture could be arguedas an influence on the working models of self and others (Bowlby, 1982). Because ofseveral distinctions made between Latino and Caucasian culture, such as the importanceof collectivism and cohesiveness of the family unit (termed familism) in Latino culture(Arbona & Power, 2003; Giordano & McGoldrick, 1996; Harwood et al., 1995;McEachern & Kenny, 2002; Zayas & Solari, 1994), and because the operationalization ofattachment theory (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) was standardized on a1

2sample of middle-class Caucasian infants, it seems fitting to investigate potentialdifferences in attachment organization in samples of different racial/ethnic backgrounds.Because of this gap, many researchers have investigated attachment organization insamples of different racial/ethnic groups but have found mixed results. For example,studies by Harwood and her colleagues (Harwood, 1992; Harwood, Handwerker,Schoelmerich, & Leyendecker, 2001; Harwood & Miller, 1991; Harwood, Miller, &Irizarry, 1995) found that Puerto Rican and Caucasian mothers identified differentbehaviors from their infants as appropriate. Lopez, Melendez, and Rice (2000), in theirstudy of adult attachment, or the emotional bonds between romantic partners or peers,found, that mother overprotection scores were higher among Black students than amongtheir White peers. Further, they learned that both the Hispanic/Latino and Black studentsscored higher on attachment-related avoidance than their White peers. Other studies, suchas those by Kermoian and Leiderman (1986) and Marvin, VanDevender, Iwanaga,LeVine, and LeVine (1977) found similar attachment classifications across infants inAfrica as those in the United States. This uncertainty regarding the application ofattachment classifications to those from different racial/ethnic groups and the failure ofimportant research linking parental attachment and psychological adjustment to takerace/ethnicity into account (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Kalsner & Pistole, 2003;Kenny & Perez, 1996; Rice, 1990; Vivona 2000) make it difficult to come to anyconclusions regarding the connection of parental attachment to psychological adjustmentissues. One study by Arbona and Power (2003), however, seems promising in that it hasestablished a connection among parental attachment, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviorafter controlling for race/ethnicity.

3In addition to the difficulty of generalizing findings across groups, it is alsodifficult to generalize findings within racial/ethnic groups. Acculturation, or the transferof culture from one group of people to another group of people (Negy & Woods, 1992),may have implications for the study of Latino persons in this country because of theheterogeneity of this group. Because of the potential effect of familism on attachmentorganization, and in light of findings that some aspects of familism decrease asacculturation increases (Sabogal, Marín, Otero-Sabogal, Marín, & Perez-Stable, 1987), itseems reasonable to expect that acculturation may moderate the relationship betweenattachment and psychological adjustment.In summary, there has been no research comparing the relationship between qualityof parental attachment and anxiety in Latino- and Caucasian-American populations.Moreover, within-group differences such as acculturation have not been taken intoaccount in research linking parental attachment and anxiety. Because of differencesaccounted for by acculturation, it is hypothesized that, the more acculturated anindividual, the more parental attachment will have implications for anxiety. However, asacculturation decreases, it is hypothesized that attachment will have less of an implicationfor level of anxiety.

CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEWAttachmentThe term parental attachment denotes the emotional bonds between primarycaretakers and their children (Ainsworth, 1989). Conversely, adult attachment refers toemotional bonds between romantic partners or peers. Both attachment systems have beenassociated with psychological adjustment. Although parental attachment influences lateradult attachment styles, only parental attachment will be explored here.Several theorists have been instrumental in the development of attachment theory.Bowlby’s (1982) conceptualization of attachment was a counter to the psychoanalyticand social learning explanations of attachment. More specifically, he conceptualizedattachment through evolutionary biology, ethology, developmental psychology, cognitivescience, and control systems theory. Attachment, he explained, is a universalphenomenon that is adaptive and central to the survival of our species. Seeking proximityto a caretaker, usually the mother, is a way of seeking security and safety during times ofstress and threat. In this way, attachment behavior is adaptive by protecting the youngfrom predators and increasing the likelihood of reproductive success. The security ofattachment, then, depends on the reliability and responsiveness of the parent to the child.Subsequently, Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth et al., 1978)developed a procedure, called the Strange Situation, in which the security of attachmentto the mother could be classified into 3 categories. Secure, or group B, children canseparate from their mother with minimal stress. These children also show an ability to be4

5comforted and show minimal anger upon reunion with mother. On the other hand,anxious/resistant, or Group C, children show little exploration, high distress, and aninability to be comforted upon reunion, and anxious/avoidant, or Group A, children showlittle distress during separation and avoidance of the mother upon reunion. Later, Mainand Solomon (1986) discovered a 4th classification, disorganized/disoriented, in a sampleof fifty-five12-20 month old infants. These patterns of attachment were found to occur ina sample of Caucasian infants, however, calling into question the validity of applyingthese classifications to those from different cultural groups. The following section willhighlight characteristics of Latino and Caucasian culture and will review the findings ofother researchers who have observed differences in attachment behaviors between thesegroups.Culture and AttachmentCulture can be defined as “an abstraction referring to the multiple meaningfulcontexts in which all individuals construct, and from which all individuals abstract, rulegoverned understandings and behaviors” (Harwood et al., 1995, p. 31). In other words,culture includes the set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group ofpeople, communicated from one generation to the next (Matsumoto, 1997), which areused to interpret acceptable or unacceptable behavior.Several distinctions between Caucasian and Hispanic culture have been identified.Caucasian culture has been described as being more individualistic than Hispanic culturewhile Hispanic culture has been described as more cohesive and collectivistic thanCaucasian culture (Arbona & Power, 2003; Giordano & McGoldrick, 1996; Harwood etal., 1995). Differences in family environment are also apparent between Caucasian andHispanic cultures. The cohesiveness of the family unit has been found to play an