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).

Conclusion: The present study suggests that affectionless control by the same-sex parents increases dysfunctional attitudes about achievement.