Citation

Pearce CM, Martin G, Wood K. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 1995; 34(2): 160-167.

Affiliation

Southern Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/00004583-199502000-00011

PMID

7896649

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study set out to investigate whether a relationship exists between differential quality and quantity of physical contact experience and perceptions of parenting, psychological adjustment, and suicidal behavior among adolescents. METHOD: A self-report questionnaire assessed individuals' perceptions of how frequently they experienced pleasant (positive) and unpleasant (negative) touch from family and friends. Together with the Achenbach Youth Self-Report and the Parental Bonding Instrument, this questionnaire was administered to 142 male and 129 female students aged between 13 and 15 years (mean = 13.54, SD = 0.56) attending a randomly chosen metropolitan state high school and a coeducational private school. RESULTS: The major findings indicated that differential quality and quantity of physical contact experience was related to perceptions of parenting, psychological adjustment, and suicidal behavior, although a gender difference was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that physical contact experiences may reflect different parenting styles and may be a vulnerability factor for a range of difficulties among adolescents.

Language: en