Perceived Parenting Styles Fail to Mediate Between Anxiety and Attachment Styles in Adult Siblings of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2016-09, Vol.46 (9), p.3144-3154
• Main Authors: O’Neill, Linda P., Murray, Lindsay E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult children; Adult Children - psychology; Adults; Aged; Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety - psychology; Attachment; Attachment Behavior; Attachment style; Autism; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Care and treatment; Child and School Psychology; Child Rearing; Comparative Analysis; Control Groups; Developmental Disabilities; Developmentally disabled people; Down Syndrome; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neurosciences; Object Attachment; Original Paper; Parent Role; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parenting style; Parenting Styles; Pediatrics; People with disabilities; Perception; Population studies; Prader-Willi Syndrome; Predictor Variables; Psychology; Public Health; Sibling Relationship; Siblings; Siblings - psychology; Styles; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2859-5

Adult siblings of individuals with developmental disabilities often experience higher levels of anxiety than individuals in the general population. The present study tested whether perceived parenting could mediate the relationship between attachment styles and anxiety in the sibling group compared to a control group. Little association was found between perceived parenting and attachment styles or anxiety for the siblings but there were robust and expected findings for the control. Adult attachment-related-anxiety was a significant unique predictor of anxiety in the sibling group but there was no mediational role for perceived parenting. Conversely, the majority of parenting styles significantly mediated the relationship between attachment and anxiety in the control. Implications for the atypical findings in the sibling group are discussed.