The Mediating Role of Attachment Styles in the Relationship Between Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Romantic Relationship Dependence

Year 2026, Issue: 105, 17 - 32

Erhan Tunç , Ayşegül Seven Aktaş

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of attachment styles—secure attachment, avoidant attachment, and anxious attachment—in the relationship between parental acceptance-rejection and romantic relationship dependency. Data collected from this study, designed using a relational screening model, were analyzed using the serial multiple mediation model (Hayes, 2022). The sample of the study was purposively selected and consisted of 310 adult participants who were currently in a romantic relationship. The Descriptive Information Form, the Dependency Scale in Romantic Relationships, the Perceived Parental Acceptance-Rejection Short Form for Mothers and Fathers, and the Three-Dimensional Attachment Styles Scale were used to describe the participants' demographic characteristics. The necessary procedural steps for the preliminary model established prior to the study were followed, and SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro were used for the analyses. Correlation analyses revealed a positive relationship between parental acceptance-rejection, romantic relationship dependency, and avoidant and anxious attachment styles; and a negative relationship with secure attachment.Path analyses revealed that parental acceptance-rejection significantly explained romantic relationship dependency. Similarly, parental acceptance-rejection explains attachment styles, and attachment styles also explain romantic relationship dependency in a meaningful way. Finally, the analyses evaluated the indirect effect of parental acceptance-rejection on romantic relationship dependency through secure attachment, avoidant attachment, and anxious attachment, and found this indirect effect to be significant. This result indicates that attachment styles have a partial mediating effect between parental acceptance-rejection and romantic relationship dependency. The findings and observations during data collection suggest that young adults need psychoeducation regarding romantic relationship dependency. Considering similar research results explaining the relationships between parental acceptance-rejection, romantic relationship dependency, and attachment styles, which were addressed as variables in the study, it is recommended that psychoeducation programs be developed.

Keywords

Parental acceptance - rejection , Romantic relationship addiction , Secure attachment , Avoidant attachment , Anxious attachment

EBEVEYN KABUL-REDDİ İLE ROMANTİK İLİŞKİ BAĞIMLILIĞI ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİDE BAĞLANMA STİLLERİNİN ARACI ROLÜ

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı ebeveyne kabul – reddi ile romantik ilişki bağımlılığı arasınd aki ilişkide bağlanma stilleri olarak güvenli bağlanma, kaçınan bağlanma ve kaygılı bağlanmanın aracılık rolünü incelemektir. İlişkisel tarama modeliyle tasarlanan bu çalışmadan toplanan verilerin analizinde seri çoklu aracılık modeli (Hayes, 2022) kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemi, amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi olup; halen romantik bir ilişkisi olan 310 yetişkin katılımcıdan oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada katılımcıların demografik özellilerini betimlemek amacıyla Tanımlayıcı Bilgi Formuyla birlikte Romantik İlişkilerde Bağımlılık Ölçeği, Algılanan Ebeveyen Kabul-Reddi Anne ve Baba Kısa Formu ve Üç Boyutlu Bağlanma Stilleri Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Araştırma öncesi kurulan tahmini model için gerekli işlem adımları izlenmiş, analizlerde SPSS 27.0 ve PROCESS makrosu kullanılmıştır. Korelasyon analizleri sonucunda ebeveyn kabul-reddi, romantik ilişki bağımlılığı ve bağlanma stillerinden kaçınan bağlanma ve kaygılı bağlanma arasında pozitif; güvenli bağlanma ile de negatif yönlü anlamlı ilişki olduğu görülmüştür. Yol analizleri, ebeveyn kabul-reddinin, romantik ilişki bağımlılığını anlamlı düzeyde açıkladığı görülmüştür. Yine ebeveyn kabul-reddi, bağlanma stillerini, bağlanma stilleri de romantik ilişki bağımlılığını anlamlı şekilde açıklamaktadır. Son olarak, analizlerde ebeveyn kabul – reddinin, romantik ilişki bağımlılığı üzerindeki dolaylı etkisinin güvenli bağlanma, kaçınan bağlanma ve kaygılı bağlanma aracılığıyla değerlendirmiş, bu dolaylı etkinin anlamlı olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu sonuç, bağlanma stillerinin ebeveyn kabul – reddi ile romantik ilişki bağımlılığı arasında kısmi aracı etkisi olduğu görülmüştür. Elde edilen bulgular ve veri toplama sırasındaki gözlemler, genç yetişkinlerin romantik ilişki bağımlılığı konusunda psikoeğitimlere ihtiyaç duyduğu, araştırmanın değişkenleri olarak ele alınan ebeveyn kabul-reddi, romantik ilişki bağımlılığı, bağlanma stilleri arasındaki ilişkileri açıklayan benzer araştırma sonuçları da dikkate alınarak psikoeğitim programlarının geliştirilmesi önerilmiştir.

Keywords

Ebeveyn kabul-reddi , Romantik ilişki bağımlılığı , Güvenli bağlanma , Kaçınan bağlanma , Kaygılı bağlanma

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