Affectionless control by the same-sex parents increases dysfunctional attitudes about achievement.
BACKGROUND
The affectionless control parenting has been associated with depression in recipients. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of this parenting style on dysfunctional attitudes predisposing to depression.


METHODS
The subjects were 666 Japanese volunteers. Perceived parental rearing was evaluated by the Parental Bonding Instrument, which has the care and protection subscales. Parental rearing was classified into four types, i.e., optimal parenting (high care/low protection), affectionate constraint (high care/high protection), neglectful parenting (low care/low protection), and affectionless control (low care/high protection). Dysfunctional attitudes were evaluated by the 24-item Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, which has the achievement, dependency and self-control subscales.


RESULTS
Males with paternal affectionless control had higher achievement scores than those with paternal optimal parenting (P=.016). Similarly, females with maternal affectionless control had higher achievement scores than those with maternal optimal parenting (P=.016).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggests that affectionless control by the same-sex parents increases dysfunctional attitudes about achievement.
Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.
Koichi
K
Otani
Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan. Electronic address: suzukiakihito@hotmail.com.
Akihito
A
Suzuki
Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.
Yoshihiko
Y
Matsumoto
Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.
Ryoichi
R
Sadahiro
Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.
Masanori
M
Enokido
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data