Parenting bonding and parent-child relationship among tertiary level students

Abstract

Parental bonding and its effects on parent-child relationship have always been an area which generated much attention and interest. Parental bonding is an important predictor that gives a lot of insight into parent-child relationship. Studies have demonstrated the importance of parent-child relationship for adjustment, ranging from attachment during infancy, discipline style during childhood and adolescence to parenting style during adulthood. This paper aimed to investigate the relationship between parental bonding and parent-child relationship among tertiary level students where gender and cultural effect were also taken into consideration. A survey with two valid inventories-Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI) and Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS) was carried out on 160 tertiary level students from the state of Selangor. Results indicated that stronger parental bonding promotes better parent-child relationship. Besides, females were found to have better parental bonding as well as parent-child relationship as compared to males. For cultural aspect, there is no difference among races in terms of parental bonding and parent-child relationship.