An Investigation of Relationship between Parental Attachment Styles, Mental Health and Parenting Styles towards Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children by Intervention of Child Attachment: An Explanation to the Structural Equation

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental attachment styles, mental health and parenting styles towards behavioral problems of preschool children by intervention of children attachment.

This study is a descriptive research. The statistical population were all parents of 6-year-old children in preschool centers in Tehran. The statistical sample included 237 parents of 6-year-old children, chosen by multi-stage cluster sampling. Hazen and Shaver adult attachment styles (1990/1987), Baumrind parenting styles (1972), Goldberg & Hiller general health questionnaire (1979), behavioral problems of kindergarten and preschools (1994), and Halpern & Kapfenberg child attachment questionnaires (2006) were used to collect the data.

The results showed that all three variables consisted of parental attachment, parenting style and mental health could indirectly predict behavioral problems by intervention of child attachment. Also, the results obtained from path analysis indicated that the standardized coefficients of parental attachment and mental health and parenting style had a significant and negative impact on child attachment.

The results showed a significant relationship between child & parent attachment style, mental health, and parenting style with behavioral problems of children. Therefore, it seems that implementing appropriate programs in order to improve child and parent attachment styles, mental health, and parenting styles might be effective to reduce behavioral problems of children.