title: A meta-analysis of attachment to parents and delinquency.
abstract: To investigate the link between attachment to parents and delinquency, and the potential moderating effects of age and sex, 74 published and unpublished manuscripts (N = 55,537 participants) were subjected to a multilevel meta-analysis. A mean small to moderate effect size was found (r = 0.18). Poor attachment to parents was significantly linked to delinquency in boys and girls. Stronger effect sizes were found for attachment to mothers than attachment to fathers. In addition, stronger effect sizes were found if the child and the parent had the same sex compared to cross-sex pairs of children and parents. Age of the participants moderated the link between attachment and delinquency: larger effect sizes were found in younger than in older participants. It can be concluded that attachment is associated with juvenile delinquency. Attachment could therefore be a target for intervention to reduce or prevent future delinquent behavior in juveniles.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.hoeve@uva.nl
authors.forename: Machteld
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoeve
authors.forename: Geert Jan J M
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Stams
authors.forename: Claudia E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: van der Put
authors.forename: Judith Semon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dubas
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: van der Laan
authors.forename: Jan R M
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gerris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult