Scientific Journal Of King Faisal University
Basic and Applied Sciences

ع

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University / Humanities and Management Sciences

Attachment Styles and Their Relationship to Future Anxiety Among Mothers of Children with Chronic Diseases

(Rawan Abdul Mahdi Nayef Al-Saliti)

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the level of future  anxiety and the most common attachment patterns among mothers of children with chronic diseases, as well as to assess the relationship between them . It also aimed to determine any statistically significant differences in the level of future anxiety and attachment patterns depending on the variables of the mother’s educational level, the mother’s age, the type of disease, and the duration of diagnosis. The study sample consisted of (145) mothers who were under the care of the Islamic Center Society in Irbid Governorate, Jordan, during 2023. They were selected using the available method, and both the future anxiety scale and the attachment styles scale were used. The results of the study showed that the level of anxiety about the future among the mothers studied was high, and that the most common attachment style was the anxious attachment style, followed by avoidant attachment, followed by secure attachment. The results of the study also showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the secure attachment style and anxiety about the future, and the existence of a positive relationship. Statistically significant between both the anxious attachment style and the avoidant attachment style.  The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the effect of the mother’s educational level, the duration of diagnosis and the mother’s age, and the presence of statistically significant differences attributed to the effect of the type of illness on the measure of future anxiety. The results also showed that there were no differences. Statistically significant due to the effect of the mother’s educational level, type of illness, and duration of diagnosis in all attachment styles, and the presence of statistically significant differences due to the effect of the mother’s age.
KEYWORDS
secure attachment, insecure attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, anxiety, chronic childhood diseases

PDF

References

Abela, K.M., Wardell, D.R., Rozmus, C.N., and LoBiondo-Wood, G.W. (2020). Impact of pediatric critical illness and injury on families: An updated systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 51(1), 21–31.‏ 
Al Qadire, M., Al‐Sheikh, H., Suliman, M., Tawalbeh, L.I., Albashtawy, M., Al‐Radwan, M., and Abu Musameh, H. (2018). Predictors of anxiety and depression among parents of children with cancer in Jordan. Psycho-Oncology, 27(4), 1–10.
Al-Ashry, M.M. (2004). Qalaq al-mustaqbal wa-alāqatuhu bibaʻḍ al-mutaghayyirat al-ijtima iyah, dirasah thaqafīyah muqaranah bayna ṭullab baʻḍ kulliyat al-tarbiyah fī Miṣr wa-Salṭanat Ammān ‘Future anxiety and its relationship to some social variables, a comparative cultural study among students of some colleges of education in Egypt and the Sultanate of Oman’. Center for Psychological Counseling, Ain Shams University, 1(n/a), 139–78. [In Arabic]
Al-Saliti, R.A. and Bani Mustafa, M.S. (2023). Failiyat Barnamaj irshadi Jami qaim ala al-taḥṣin ḍidda al-tawattur fī khafḍ qalaq al-mustaqbal lada ummahat al-aṭfal dhawi al-amraḍ al-muzminah ‘The effectiveness of a group counseling program based on stress prevention in reducing future anxiety among mothers of children with chronic diseases’. Irbid Journal of Humanitarian Research and Studies, n/a(n/a), n/a. [In Arabic]
Al-Yagon, M., Forte, D. and Avrahami, L. (2020). Executive functions and attachment relationships in children with ADHD: Links to externalizing/internalizing problems, social skills, and negative mood regulation. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(13), 1876–90.
‏Anisworth, M. (1967). Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love. Baltimore, America: JohnsHopkins University Press.
Bandelow, B., Michaelis, S., and Wedekind, D. (2022). Treatment of anxiety disorders. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.‏ 19(2), 93–107.
Bassi, G., Mancinelli, E., Riso, D., and Salcuni, S. (2021). Parental Stress, Anxiety and Depression Symptoms Associated with Self-Efficacy in Paediatric Type 1 Diabetes: A Literature Review. International Journal of Enviromental Research and Public Health, 18(152), 1–20. 
Berant, E., Mikulincer, M., and Shaver P. (2008). Mothers attachment style, their mental health, and their childrens emotional vulnerabilities: A7-year study of children with congental heart diseas. Journal of Personality, 67(1), 30–66.
Boujemaa, H. (2023). Future anxiety and its relationship to psychological health among a sample of students at the University of Bouira. Journal of Social Sciences, 17(1), 35–49.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment. Attachment and Loss. 2nd edition. NewYork, America: Basic Books.
Brumariu, L.E. and Kerns, K.A. (2008). Mother–child attachment and social anxiety symptoms in middle childhood. Journal of applied Developmental Psychology, 29(5), 393–402.
Bujnowska, A.M., Rodríguez, C., García, T., Areces, D., and Marsh, N.V. (2019). Parenting and future anxiety: The impact of having a child with developmental disabilities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(4), 668–84.‏
Colonnesi, C., Draijer, E.M., Jan J. Stams, G., Van der Bruggen, C.O., Bögels, S.M. and Noom, M.J. (2011). The relation between insecure attachment and child anxiety: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(4), 630–45.‏
Findler, L., Jacoby, A.K., and Gabis, L. (2016). Subjective happiness among mothers of children with disabilities: The role of stress, attachment, guilt and social support. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 55)n/a), 44–54.
Hantoul, A.M. (2015). Barnamaj irshadi muqtaraḥ min manẓur Islami lltkhfyf min baʻḍ al-mushkilat al-murtabiṭah balqlq al-nafsi lada aba al-aṭfal almṣabyn balskry ‘A proposed counseling program from an Islamic perspective to alleviate some of the problems associated with psychological anxiety among parents of children with diabetes’. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(43), 148–231. [In Arabic]
Hattie, J. (1985). Methodolgy review: assessing unidimensionality of tests and items. Applied psychological Measurement. 9(2), 139–64.
Hazan, C., and Shaver, P.R. (1994). Attachment as an organizational framework for research on close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5(1), 1–22.
Jannini, T.B., Rossi, R., Socci, V. and Di Lorenzo, G. (2022). Validation of the Dark Future Scale (DFS) for future anxiety on an Italian sample. Journal of Psychopathology, 28(2), 86–93.‏
Jinyao, Y., Xiongzhao, Z., Auerbach, R.P., Gardiner, C.K., Lin, C., Yuping, W. and Shuqiao, Y. (2012). Insecure attachment as a predictor of depressive and anxious symptomology. Depression and Anxiety, 29(9), 789–96.‏‏
Lau, G., Patel, N., Umasunthar, T., Gore, C., Warner, J., Hanna, H., Phillis, K., Zaki, A, Hodes, M. and Boyl, R. (2014). Anixty and stress in mothers of food-allergis children. Journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 25(1), 236–42.
Lewin, L. and Bergin, C. (2001). Attachment behaviors, depression, and anxiety in nonoffending mothers of child sexual abuse victims. Child Maltreatment, 6(4), 365–75.
Lyu, H., and Huang, X. (2016). Development and validation of future time perspective scale for adolescents and young adults. Time & Society, 25(3), 533–551.‏
Mahamid, M.F. (2017). Anmaṭ Al-Taʻalluq Wṣʻwbat Al-Tanẓīm Alanfʻaly Lada Almtnmryn ‘Attachment Styles and Difficulties in Emotional Regulation among Bullies’. Master's Dissertation, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan. [In Arabic]
Mikulincer, M., and Shaver, P.R. (2008). Adult Attachment and Affect Regulation.‏ Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-13837-024 (accessed on 24/10/2024).
Molin, R. (1990). Future anxiety: Clinical issues of children in the latter phases of foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 7(n/a), 501–12.‏
Mouloud, K., and Abd El-kadder, B. (2018). Future anxiety and its relationship to level of aspiration among physical education students. Revue Sciences et Pratiques des Activités Physiques Sportives et Artistiques, 13(n/a), 328–38.‏
Muscara, F., McCarthy, M.C., Hearps, S.J., Nicholson, J.M., Burke, K., Dimovski, A. and Anderson, V.A. (2018). Featured article: Trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of children with a serious childhood illness or injury. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 43(10), 1072–82.
Nagata, M., Nagai, S., Sobajima, H., Ando, T., Nishide, Y. and Honjo, S. (2000). Maternity blues and attachment to children in mothers of full‐term normal infants. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 101(3), 209–17.‏
Oers, H., Haverman, L., Limperg, P., Van, E., Maurice, H. and Grootenhuis, M. (2014). Anxiety and Depression in mither and fathers of a chronically ill child. Journal Matern Child Health, 18(1), 1993–2002.
Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Dolev, S. and Yirmiya, N. (2012). Maternal sensitivity mediates the link between maternal insightfulness/resolution and child–mother attachment: The case of children with autism spectrum disorder. Attachment & Human Development, 14(6), 567–84.‏
Rahmani, A., Azadi, A., Pakpour, V., Faghani, S. and Afsari, E.  (2019). Anxiety and Depression: A Cross- sectional survery among parents of children with cancer. Journal Indian J Palliat Care, 24(1), 82–5.
Safa, M., Khalilzadeh, S., Talischi, F. and Alizadeh, S. (2012). Correlation of anxiety-depression and sleep quality in mothers of children with cystic fibrosis and asthma. Tanaffos, 11(1), 44 –8.
Santos, S., Crespo, C., Canavarro, M.C., Kazak, A.E., and Guest, E. (2017). Parents' romantic attachment predicts family ritual meaning and family cohesion among parents and their children with cancer. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 42(1), 114–24.‏
Shaver, P.R. and Mikulincer, M. (2007). Adult Attachment Strategies and the Regulation of Emotion. NewYork, America: Guilford Press.
Snyder, R., Shapiro, S. and Treleaven, D. (2012). Attachment theory and mindfulness. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21(5), 709–17.
Vondra, J.I., Shaw, D.S., Swearingen, L., Cohen, M. and Owens, E.B. (2001). Attachment stability and emotional and behavioral regulation from infancy to preschool age. Development and Psychopathology, 13(1), 13–33.‏
Wreikat, H.A. and Watnous, A.J. (2018). Anmaṭ al-taʻalluq wa-alaqatuha bqlq al-mustaqbal lada aṭfal Dawr al-Aytam ‘Attachment styles and their relationship to future anxiety among orphanage children’. Journal of the Islamic University for Educational and Psychological Studies, 25(2), 416–39. [In Arabic]
Zaleski, Z., Sobol-Kwapinska, M., Przepiorka, A. and Meisner, M. (2019). Development and validation of the dark future scale. Time and Society, 28(1), 107–23.