PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND EMOTION REGULATION AS CORRELATES OF QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

This study examined parental attachment and emotion regulation as correlates of quality of life among in-school adolescents in Delta State, Nigeria. Four hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Theoretical and empirical studies were reviewed. The study adopted a correlational research design. The sample comprised 394 Senior Secondary School II students selected from a population of 14,252 using the Taro Yamane (1967) formula and a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using four standardized instruments: the Inventory of Parental Attachment Questionnaire (Armsden, 1986), the Parental Monitoring Scale (Stattin & Kerr, 2000), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (Gross, 2003), and the KIDSCREEN-10 (KIDSCREEN Group, 2004). The instruments were subjected to face and construct validation. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach Alpha.  The instruments demonstrated acceptable internal consistency with coefficient values of 0.75, 0.81, 0.77 and 0.97 for PMS, IPAQ, ERQ and KIDSCREEN-10 respectively. The study used simple and multiple linear regression analysis to test hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed a significant but very low positive relationship between parental attachment, emotional regulation and adolescents’ quality of life. However, parental attachment and emotion regulation jointly exhibited a significant moderate relationship with adolescents’ quality of life, indicating a meaningful combined effect despite weak individual associations. Based on these findings, it is recommended that parents foster supportive emotional relationships and practice balanced monitoring that respects adolescents’ autonomy. Schools should also implement counselling and skills-based programmes that promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies.