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Influence of Childhood Attachment on Adolescents’ Interpersonal Relationship
and Self-Esteem among Undergraduate Students of the University of Ghana
Article · Januar y 2015
DOI: 10.9734/B JESB S/2015/13623
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British Journal of Education, Society &
Behavioural Science
5(3): 368-376, 2015, Article no.BJESBS.2015.030
ISSN: 2278-0998

SCIENCEDOMAIN international
www.sciencedomain.org

Influence of Childhood Attachment on Adolescents’
Interpersonal Relationship and Self-Esteem among
Undergraduate Students of the University of Ghana

Kingsley Nyarko 1*, Prince Addai 2 and Christopher M. Amissah 1

1Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 84, Legon, Ghana.
2Kumasi Center, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 838, Adum, Kumasi, Ghana.

Authors’ contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration between all a uthors. All authors read and approved the final
manuscript.

Article Information

DOI:10.9734/BJESBS/2015/13623
Editor(s):
(1) James P. Concannon, Associate Professor of Educati on, Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, USA.
Reviewers:
(1) Anonymous, University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirão Pret o College of Nursing, Brazil.
(2) Abiodun Gesinde, Psychology, Covenant University, Nig eria.
(3) Anonymous, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, I taly.
(4) Samah Khaled Zahran, Educational department, Ain Shams U niversity, Egypt.
Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history.php?iid =816&id=21&aid=6992

Received 26 th August 2014
Accepted 29 th October 2014
Published 18th November 2014

ABSTRACT

Childhood insecurities may affect a wide range of pers onality development such as interpersonal
relationship and self-esteem during adolescence. The pr esent study explores the effect of
childhood attachment on adolescents’ interpersonal relati onship and self-esteem among
undergraduate students of the University of Ghana. The study also examines gender differences in
interpersonal relationship and self-esteem. A total o f two hundred undergraduate students from the
University of Ghana were selected using convenient samp ling to complete the Rosenberg Self
Esteem Scale, the Perceived Interpersonal Relationship Scale (PIRS) and the Childhood
Attachment Inventory (CAI). Data were analyzed using t he multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA). Results reveal that adolescents who have sec ured childhood attachment have good
interpersonal relationship and higher level of self-est eem than adolescents who have unsecured
attachment. There was however no gender differences fo und in adolescents interpersonal
relationship and self-esteem. Based on the findings, it is recommended that parents assess how
they relate with their children and not to inculcate t repidation in their children since these have the
tendency to affect personality development during a dulthood. Original Research Article

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369
Keywords: Adolescents; childhood attachment; secured at tachment; unsecured attachment;
interpersonal relationship; self-esteem.

1. INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period of biological, cognitive
and social change of such magnitude and
rapidity that it is found to be associated with the
onset of a number of psychological problems
such as unhealthy peer relationship and lowered
self-esteem [1,2,3]. As adolescents grow, the
amount of time spent with parents naturally drops
while time spent with peer’s increases
considerably. However, the sort of bond during
childhood continues to predict aspects of
psychosocial well-being even into adolescents
and play a key role in influencing adolescents’
development [4,5]. The relationship people form
during adolescence and the development of our
self-esteem which arguably depends on the
attachment bond with parents can both open
windows of opportunities and serve as risks of a
successful life [2].

Attachment is a deep and enduring affectional
bond of substantial intensity that connects one
person to another across time and space [6,7].
The attachment bond formed with parents and
other caregivers in childhood shapes an infant's
brain, profoundly influencing their self-esteem,
their expectations of others, and their ability to
attract and maintain successful adult
relationships [8,9,10]. According to the
attachment bond theory [11,12,13], the
relationship between infants and primary
caretakers is responsible for shaping individuals’
future relationships, be conscious of their
feelings, calm them as well as their ability to
bounce back from misfortune. Early studies on
attachment argued that children with secure
attachments to caregivers are well-adjusted than
those with low attachment [14,15]. The theory
implies that caregivers influence a child’s
development by showing the child how to cope,
handle life’s problems, and deal with others.
Inability to develop these characteristics leads to
defective self-image and poor relationship later in
life [15].

It is not all interaction patterns between the
caregiver and the infant that lead to attachment
security overtime. Unsecured attachment style is
developed when the caregiver becomes a source
of fear to the infant [16]. The structural family
theory emphasizes that a family that is
excessively disengaged tends to yield feelings of
outcast and disparity to its members. Individuals who experience confusing, frightening, or broken
emotional communications during their infancy
often grow into adults who have difficulty
understanding their own emotions and the
feelings of others. This limits their ability to build
or maintain successful relationships [2].

Self-esteem is used to describe a person's
overall sense of self-worth or personal value.
Self-esteem involves a variety of beliefs about
the self, such as the appraisal of one's own
appearance, beliefs, emotions and behaviors.
According to [4], there are three key components
of self-esteem: Self-esteem is an essential
human need that is vital for survival and normal,
healthy development; Self-esteem arises
automatically from within based upon a person's
beliefs and consciousness; Self-esteem occurs in
conjunction with a person's thoughts, behaviors,
feelings and actions. These components are
influenced by how caregivers interact with the
individual during childhood.

Several studies have documented the impact of
early childhood attachment on adolescent’s self-
esteem and interpersonal relationship. These
studies have indicated that secured childhood
attachment is associated with higher self-esteem
[17,18,8] and good interpersonal relationship
[19,20,21]. [22] assessed the degree of continuity
over time in the quality of parent-child
attachments and the relationship between these
attachments and current self-esteem. The results
indicated that self-esteem was related to both
childhood and adolescent working model styles
of attachment and to the dimensions of
independence-encouraging and acceptance.
Perception of secured childhood attachment was
found to increase the development of self-
esteem. Another study by [20] indicated that the
quality of the parent-child relationship affects the
adolescent's self-concept, which in turn affects
the adolescent's integration into the world of
peers, and positive self-concept. Secured
attachment contributed unique variance to
satisfactory peer relations and higher level of
self-esteem in adolescents.

Though, the studies above give evidence of the
relationship between childhood attachment and
interpersonal relationship, attachment does not
generalize across all co-cultures. Other studies
have discovered relationships among
attachment, and gender, ethnicity, and sexual

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370
orientation [23,24]. Attachment probably also
varies across cultures and early research in this
area has suggested that such differences may be
discerned [25,26]. Other researchers [e.g., 27]
have also found a non-significant impact of
childhood attachment on the development of
adolescents’ self-image. [28,29] emphasized that
insecure attachment by itself is not an indicator
of defective self-image, rather, it might set a
route which in combination with other risk factors
could lead to the development of unstable and
defective self-image.

Aside the conflicting results on the impact of
childhood attachment on interpersonal
relationship and self-esteem, the impact of
childhood attachment have been found to differ
on the development of self-esteem and
adolescents interpersonal relationship among
males and females. [27] observed that early
childhood attachment with parents have
significant influence on the formation of the self-
concept of males but not of females. [30] also
found that the attachment with parents and
friends during childhood had significant influence
on the formation of the self-concept and
interpersonal relationship in adolescents but the
parental attachment was found to be important
for the development of personality among males
but not females. [31] on the other hand found
that peer attachment partially influence parent
attachment to affect the development of
personality and life satisfaction only for females.

The influence of childhood attachment has mixed
implications on the development of self-esteem
and adolescents’ interpersonal relationship, and
the impact of childhood attachment on
personality development of males and females
have been inconsistent across cultures. It is
based on this that the study sought to find out if
childhood attachment has a significant impact on
adolescents’ interpersonal relationship and self-
esteem using Ghanaians with different cultural
background to establish if the findings in foreign
cultures would be consistent with those of
Ghana. The study also examines gender
differences in adolescents’ interpersonal
relationship and self-esteem. Accordingly, the
researchers predicted that adolescents with
secured attachment are more likely to have
better interpersonal relationship than adolescents
with unsecured attachment. Again, it was
predicted that adolescents who had secured
childhood attachment will have higher self-
esteem compared to adolescents who had
unsecured childhood attachment. Finally, with regard to gender, the researchers predicted
higher levels of interpersonal relationship and
self-esteem among male students than among
female students.

2. METHODS

2.1 Population

The population for this study was undergraduate
students of the University of Ghana, Legon. The
University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of
the seven Ghanaian public universities. The
population has a wide array of individualities from
different background and socio-cultural
orientations. The different background of the
individuals within the population exposes them to
experience different kinds of individuals with
different parental attachment and upbringing.
This has a greater tendency to unleash different
levels of dependency and trust that could affect
the level of self-esteem and interpersonal
relationship of the students.

2.2 Participants

A total of two hundred (200) students were
selected from the population using convenient
sampling to serve as the study’s sample. The
convenient sampling technique was used
because only participants who were readily
available and willing to participate in the study
were selected. The two hundred (200)
respondents consist of equal number of males
(100) and females (100) between the age of 18
and 22 years. The respondents were selected
from the four levels of undergraduate studies
namely: level 100 ( n=56), level 200 ( n=60), level
300 ( n=48) and level 400 ( n=36). (See Table 1
for gender composition below).

Table 1. Demographic distribution of
respondents

Demographic
variables Male
(n = 100) Female
(n = 100) Total
(n = 200
Academic levels
Level 100 24 32 56
Level 200 39 21 60
Level 300 15 33 48
Level 400 22 14 36

2.3 Measures

Data on childhood attachment, self-esteem and
interpersonal relationships were collected using
the Parent Attachment Questionnaire [PAQ; 32],

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371
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale [RSES; 33] and
the Relationship Scales Questionnaire [RSQ; 34]
respectively.

The PAQ assessed adolescent’s childhood
attachment with parents or significant others. The
PAQ assessed perceived parental availability,
understanding, acceptance, interest in interaction
with parents and affect toward parents, and
satisfaction with help obtained from parents
during childhood. The modified PAQ contains
thirteen (13) items measured on a four point likert
scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree), 2
(Disagree), 3 (Agree) and 4 (Strongly Agree).
Respondents were requested to select only one
of the four alternatives. The PAQ has been found
valid and reliable, with a .92 test-retest score
over a 2-week interval and internal consistency
as .93 for male and .95 for female students [35].
Total scores ranged from 13 to 52 with score of
32 – 52 classified as secured attachment whilst
score of 13 – 31 is classified as unsecured
attachment. An item on the PAQ is “I felt
comfortable relying on my parents and
dependent on them”.

The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) is a
10 item self-report scale designed to measure
self-esteem. This 10-item scale assesses an
individual's feelings of self-worth when the
individual compares himself or herself to other
people. The RSES was designed to represent a
continuum of self-worth, with statements that are
endorsed by individuals with low self-esteem to
statements that are endorsed only by persons
with high self-esteem. Response categories are
anchored on a four – point response format
ranging from strongly agree (4) to strongly
disagree (1) for positively worded items and
strongly disagree (4) to strongly agree (1) for
negatively worded items. A higher score
indicates greater self-esteem. Reliability
coefficient of .85 was reported by [36] and a test-
retest reliability ranging from .82 to .95 [37].
Some items on the questionnaire include: “I feel
that I have a number of good qualities,” “all in all,
I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.”

The Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ)
contains 30 short statements drawn on [38]
attachment measure, [39] Relationship
Questionnaire, and [40] Adult Attachment Scale
to measure perceived interpersonal relationship
with others in adulthood. The RSQ is measured
on a four-point response format ranging from
strongly agree (4) to strongly disagree (1) with a
reliability coefficient of .86 [34]. Some items on the scale include: “I want to merge completely
with another person,” “I worry that I will be hurt i f
I allow myself to become too close to others.”

2.4 Procedure

In conducting this study, the researchers sought
permission from the head of the Psychology
Department of the University of Ghana
concerning the ethicality of the study before data
collection took place. The participants were
made to fill the questionnaire at their lecture hall s
and also in their halls of residence. The purpose
of the study was first explained to the students
before administering the questionnaires.
Approximately 30 minutes was used by each
participant to complete the questionnaire.

2.5 Data Analyses

The data was gathered and quantified for ease of
manipulation and analysis using the Statistical
Package for Social Science. The differences in
self-esteem and interpersonal relationship
between adolescents with secured and
unsecured childhood attachment were analyzed
using the multivariate analysis of variance (see
Table 2). The multivariate analysis of variance
was again used to compute the significant
differences in scores on self-esteem and
interpersonal relationship among male and
female participants (see Table 3).

3. RESULTS

The study was interested in testing four main
hypotheses. These hypotheses are

1. Adolescents with secured attachment are
more likely to have better interpersonal
relationship than adolescents with
unsecured attachment.
2. Adolescents who had secured childhood
attachment will have higher self-esteem
compared to adolescents who had
unsecured childhood attachment.
3. Male students will have higher level of
interpersonal relationship than female
students.
4. Male students will have higher level of self-
esteem than female students.

All the four hypotheses were analyzed using the
multivariate analysis of variance. This is because
the study was interested in discovering the effect
of one independent variable that is childhood
attachment or gender on more than one

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372
dependent variable (interpersonal relationships
and self-esteem). The dependent variables
(interpersonal relationships and self-esteem)
were all measured on an interval scale.

The results of the study shown on Table 2
indicate a significant impact of childhood
attachment on adolescents’ self-esteem (F (1, 198)
= 100.335, p < 0.01) and interpersonal
relationship (F (1, 198) = 25.209, p < 0.01). This
means that adolescents who perceived secured
childhood attachment have higher level of self-
esteem (M=32.55, SD=5.89) and interpersonal
relationship (M=70.02, SD=17.61) than the level
of self-esteem (M=21.13, SD=5.57) and
interpersonal relationship (M=52.87, SD=16.28)
of adolescents who perceived unsecured
childhood attachment (See Table 2).

The findings of the study reveal no significant
gender difference in self-esteem (F (1, 198) = .383,
p > 0.05) and interpersonal relationship (F (1, 198)
= .805, p > 0.05). This means that the level of
self-esteem among males (M=27.00, SD=8.37)
was not significantly different from the level of
self-esteem among females (M=26.00,
SD=7.78). In a similar vein, interpersonal
relationship among males (M=62.72, SD=19.75)
was not significantly different from interpersonal
relationship among females (M=59.34, SD=7.78)
(See Table 3).

4. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The results of the study indicate that secured
childhood attachment increases the development
of self-esteem and enhances good interpersonal
relationship. This confirmed our prediction that adolescents with secured attachment are more
likely to have better interpersonal relationship
than adolescents with unsecured attachment. As
observed in the study, the respondents’ score on
the RSES and the RSQ were higher among
adolescents who perceived secured childhood
attachment indicating higher level of self-esteem
and interpersonal relationship than those who
perceived unsecured childhood attachment.

The higher level of self-esteem among
adolescents who perceived secured childhood
attachment compared to those who perceived
unsecured childhood attachment corroborates
with earlier studies that indicated that secured
childhood attachment is associated with higher
level of self-esteem [8,17,18]. Similarly, [30]
observed that secured relationship with parents
and significant others in childhood have
significant influence on the formation of the self-
concept and interpersonal relationship in
adolescents. According to [41], sustaining a
sense of confidence and self-worth in individuals
begins with a strong secured bond with the
adolescent during childhood and continues
throughout adolescents.

Childhood relationships with parents and
significant others influence a child’s development
by showing the child how to cope, handle life’s
problems, and deal with others. Inability to
develop these characteristics leads to defective
self-image later in life [15]. A study on adopted
children shows that positively formed
attachments heighten the chance for a well-
adjusted life, regardless of the biological relation
of the attachment figure [41].

Table 2. Influence of attachment style on self-este em and interpersonal relationship

Variable Secured attachment
n=94 Unsecured attachment
n=106 F Df P
Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
Self-esteem 32.55 (5.89) 21.13 (5.57) 100.335 (1, 198) 0.000
Interpersonal
relationship 70.02 (17.61 ) 52.87 (16.28) 25.209 (1, 198) 0.000
* P< 0.01 level (1-tailed test)

Table 3. Gender differences in interpersonal relati onship and self-esteem

Variable Males (n=100 ) Females (n=100 ) F Df P
Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
Self-esteem 27.00 (8.37) 26.00 (7.78) .383 (1, 198 ) .537
Interpersonal relationship 62.72 (19.75) 59.34 (17.87 ) .805 (1, 198) .372
P> 0.05

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373
According to the childhood attachment theory,
secured attachment relationship enhances a
positive, coherent and consistent self-image, a
sense of being worthy of love combined with a
positive expectation with significant others that
will be generally accepting and responsive.

Moreover, the healthy interpersonal relationship
among adolescents who perceived secured
childhood attachment is in agreement with
previous studies [19,20,21,42] which found
secured childhood attachment to influence the
development of good adolescent’s interpersonal
relationship. [43] have offered support to this
finding by explaining that adolescents’ newly
acquired ability to consider their prior attachment
relationships from the perspective of the
caregiver may serve to allow them to later take
on this role in their relationships with peers.
Children who consider their prior attachment
relationship as unsecured loses trust and readily
acceptance of peer relationships in adolescence.
This disrupts good interpersonal relationships
with others.

According to [41], parent’s responses during their
childhood affect the child’s development and
subsequent behavior. The relationships between
children and their primary caregivers (parents or
guardians) result in the formation of expectations
regarding attachment figures and how to relate to
others later in life. Children therefore develop
perceptions of how reliable an attachment figure
generally is, and how likely they will be inspired
to trust and relate with others. Individuals who
experience confusing, frightening, or broken
emotional attachment through communications
during childhood often grow into adults who have
difficulty understanding their own emotions and
the feelings of others. This negatively affects
their ability to build or maintain successful
relationships with others [2,41,44].

[45] explained that as adolescents begin to
analyze past relationships, their strategy
employed in approaching attachment memories,
emotions, and relationships becomes crucially
important. Attachment during childhood years
becomes one’s organization and processing of
attachment-related thoughts, feelings, and
emotions, rather than a specific categorization of
a given relationship. Therefore, adolescents who
experienced secured childhood attachment will
be guided by their childhood experience to build
healthy relationships whilst those who
experienced unsecured childhood attachment will
out of fear feel reluctant to relate positively with
others later in life [45]. Finally, the study found no significant difference
in the level of self-esteem and interpersonal
relationship among males and females. In other
words, the prediction that male students will have
higher levels of interpersonal relationship and
self-esteem than among female students was not
supported by the results of the study. This
suggests that among the university students
population, males do not differ significantly from
females on the level of self-esteem and
perceived adolescent interpersonal relationship.
This finding is congruent with previous findings
that found a non-significant difference between
males and females on levels of self-esteem
[46,47] and perceived interpersonal relationship
[48].

A possible explanation one can proffer with
respect to the lack of a significant difference
between males and females on scores of self-
esteem and perceived interpersonal relationship
might be because of the level of education and
the diverse nature of the student’s population
that participants interacted with daily on the
university campus. Education helps build
individuals level of self-image and competence.
Moreover, university atmosphere engages
diverse nature of students of both genders who
engage in regular intellectual discussions. This
has a greater propensity of shaping the self-
concept and tolerance of both males and
females. The equal interaction of males and
females with the diverse nature of the student’s
body at the university can even balance the
deficits of attachment experience in childhood
and thereby influence equally the quality of how
males and females relate with others. As
explained by [49], all things been equal, males
and females do not differ in their self-worth
unless one of the opposite sexes is influenced by
risk factors such as poverty, lower level of
education, lack of social support, broken homes,
etc.; in situations where both males and females
are in similar situations, no sex difference is
found in their level of self-esteem.

As with any study, there are a number of
shortcomings that limit the interpretability of the
present findings. First, the study relied only on
self-report data from adolescents. While
participants reported their levels of attachment to
parents, they do not necessarily enact them. The
use of self-report measures has been challenged
on the basis of their limited ability to tap into
unconscious attachment strategies and their
vulnerability to defensive reporting. In addition,
the use of self-report measure may be flawed
because participants might have different

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374
experiences with privacy issues that could not be
reported with this method of collecting data.
Secondly, selection of participants was based on
convenient non-probability sampling which
makes it questionable in extrapolating the
findings to the larger population.

Aside the flaws, the study have a lot of
implications. The findings of the study imply that
insecure attachment predicts later symptoms of
both low self-esteem and unhealthy interpersonal
relationship. The findings also provide additional
evidence that both cognitive and interpersonal
factors during childhood contributes to the
developmental pathways that influence self-
esteem and how adolescents relate with others.
Based on the higher level of self-esteem and
interpersonal relationship among adolescents
who perceived secured childhood attachment
compared to those who perceived unsecured
childhood attachment, the researchers
recommend the need for parents to assess how
they relate with their children and not to inculcate
fear, trepidation, and anxiety in their children
since these have the tendency to affect
personality development during adulthood.
Again, school authorities, teachers are
encouraged to imbibe in pupils prosocial skills
such as cooperation in order to help pupils relate
well with each other thereby strengthening their
interpersonal skills. Teachers should also
introduce programmes and activities that
enhance pupils’ self-esteem to benefit, especially
those pupils who had defective parental
attachment experience. Finally, future research
should continue to examine how childhood
attachment may be related to the co-occurrence
of low level of self-esteem and unhealthily
relationship. The following recommendations
may also be offered for further studies:

First, there is the need to use qualitative design
to assess the various elements of childhood
attachment that have the tendency of developing
lack of security among children to help tap into
unconscious attachment strategies and their
vulnerability to defensive reporting. Second,
there is also the need to employ participants with
diverse level of educational background that will
allow a researcher to clearly identify whether
educational background influence the
development of self-esteem and formation of
healthy interpersonal relationships. This could be
achieved by the inclusion of students from junior
high school, senior high school and tertiary
institutions in a single study. Future researchers
can also make comparisons between parents’
view and their children’s view on attachment styles to provide double self-report from parents
and children and compare the two contents as
means of discovering the degree of consistency
between the two views. Lastly, future
researchers should consider the possibility of
assessing which parenting style have the
possibility of inducing secured and unsecured
attachment during childhood.

5. CONCLUSION

The findings of this study have established that
secured childhood attachment breeds higher
level of self-esteem and healthy interpersonal
relationship than unsecured childhood
attachment. No sex difference was observed on
level of self-esteem and interpersonal
relationship. The findings imply that the sorts of
attachment we experience during childhood have
a significant impact on our self-image and how
we grow up to associate with others. The lack of
gender differences in both self-esteem and
interpersonal relationship suggests that males
and females might be influenced by childhood
attachment in the same direction or the
difference between them is negligible. Again,
interacting with diverse nature of people might
help in shaping the extent to which both males
and females learn to live with others as a means
of preventing social disapproval.

COMPETING INTERESTS

Authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.

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