Perceived Parental Acceptance-rejection and Self-esteem in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Peer Attachment Quality

Đenita Tuce

Abstract


The aim of the research is to examine the potential mediating role of peer attachment quality in the relationship between perceived maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection and self-esteem among younger, middle, and older adolescents, with statistical control for the adolescent’s gender. The study included 305 elementary school students, 324 high school students, and 281 university students. The following measurement instruments were used: General Data Questionnaire, Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, Inventory of Peer Attachment-Revised, and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. The results of the mediation analyses show that the quality of peer attachment acts as a mediator in the relationship between perceived maternal acceptance-rejection and self-esteem in younger and older adolescents, that is, this predictor variable exerts its effect on self-esteem both directly and indirectly through the proposed mediator. However, in middle adolescents, only the direct effect of the predictor variable on the outcome was found to be significant. Regarding perceived paternal acceptance-rejection, peer attachment quality was found to be a significant mediator in all three adolescent groups. Furthermore, the findings revealed that among younger and middle adolescents, perceived paternal acceptance-rejection exerts its effect on self-esteem exclusively indirectly, through the proposed mediator, whereas among older adolescents, it has both direct and indirect effects. The obtained results suggest that when exploring the potential mediating role of peer interaction quality in the relationship between parent-child relationship quality and adolescents’ self-esteem, it is important to examine the relationships with mother and father separately, as well as to take into account the developmental specificities of different periods of adolescence.

Keywords


adolescence; self-esteem; parental acceptance-rejection; peer attachment quality

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.51558/2490-3647.2025.10.2.965

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