Parental bonding as a predictor of hope in adolescents

Abstract

Hope enables individuals to cope with stressful situations by creating the expectation of a positive outcome. The existence of problematic behavior and psychological barriers in adolescents is partly due to their low level of hope, which is influenced by weak parent-child bonding. This study aims to determine the effect of parental bonding on hope among adolescents. Data were collected with an accidental sampling method from 400 participants in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The data were obtained using the Parental Bonding Instrument to measure the quality of parent-child attachment, and Snyder's Hope Scale to measure hope. They were analyzed using linear regression to establish the strength of the impact of parental bonding on hope. The results show that care and the autonomous parenting of the father and mother were strong predictors of hope in adolescents, while overprotection by the parents was not proven to predict such hope. The implications of the research can be used as a reference for parenting practice, and to guide adolescents both in the family and school contexts.