PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND PERSONAL VALUES AMONG ADOLESCENTS

List of Acronyms

PVS:                Personal Values

PTA:               Parents’ Teachers Association

SS:                   Secondary Schools

MOES:            Ministry of Education and SportsBSTRACT

This study set out to parental attachment and personal values among adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district. The study specifically, sought to determine the most common forms of parental attachment amongst adolescents, investigate the most common personal values among adolescents, establish the relationship between parental attachment and personal values and examined how counseling strategies can improve on parental attachment and positive personal values in adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district. A descriptive cross sectional survey research design was used. In the study, both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed in data collection process, analysis, presentation and discussion of findings. Data was collected from four secondary schools which were selected using stratified sampling. In these schools, semi structured questionnaires and interview guide were used for data collection.

The study concluded that,…………

The study recommended for………….

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0       Introduction

This study investigated parental attachment and personal values among adolescents. This chapter presents the background to the study; statement of the problem, purpose, specific objectives, research questions, significance, justification, theoretical framework and conceptual framework.

1.1 Background to the Study

When children develop into adolescents, they progress to a stage of theoretical thinking. The adolescence stage involves the process of shaping one’s personal values; ‘a dynamic process of testing, selecting, and integrating self-images and personal ideologies into an integrated and consistent whole (Nakkula & Toshalis, 2006).  At this stage parental attachment becomes a key factor in their formation of personal values (Sorokou, 2005).  Values are assumed to provide individuals with a sense of continuity and consistency for example honesty, commitment, compassion, integrity, accountability, religious, and conflict resolution. Personal values have been traditionally viewed as the major developmental task of adolescence (Beyers, 2009). In this study, values refer to the general expression of what is most important of you. They are categories of preference for life. They are formed starting in early childhood and are later consciously re-evaluated and can therefore be changed.

According to Erickson (1968), one must undergo the process of internalization for identity formation to be successful thus correlated to personal values. This internalization entails adherence made to a unique and integrated set of commitments and choices reflecting who one is. The commitments made by an individual give direction to life and contribute to a sense of adjustment.

Adolescence is the most vulnerable and sensitive period for an individual to adopt a negative identity and dysfunction (Sandhu & Tung, 2004). Adolescents form the identity not by imitating others, as younger children; rather they modify and synthesize earlier identifications into a new psychological structure, greater than sum of its parts (Kroger, 2009).To form values, adolescents must ascertain and organize their abilities, needs, interests, and desires that can be expressed in a social context (Paplia, 2007).

In Uganda, Ainsworth conducted a study on attachment. It was during this study that Ainsworth started her empirical contributions to attachment theory and began to develop the now famous tripartite classification of avoidant, secure and ambivalent attachment relationships. The study among others revealed that it is not the number of care givers per se, but the continuity of the mother-infant interaction that is decisive for attachment security. Even in a child rearing environment in which mothers share their care giving responsibilities with others, infants become attached to the mothers and use a secure base for exploration (Rubin & Chang, 2006). There is need to find out whether the same is happening in Uganda especially to the adolescents of Kajjansi Secondary School hence need for a study.

Attachment styles are important to understand since their presence has an effect on the process and outcome of an individual’s exploratory interests. Attachment styles are receiving sufficient attention in Western societies (James, 2003). In Uganda, the scholastic work relating attachment styles and personal values is still inadequate (Mattanah, 2004). Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a study of this nature, since the variables concerned have been found to be critical for adjustment and development in the West. It is not clear whether the same will hold in Ugandan context. As regards this study, attachment is the affection bond that is relatively long-enduring tie in which the parent is important as a unique individual with the adolescent.

1.2 Problem Statement

The responsibility of parenting is to raise the children in socially accepted manners, but due to societal changes world over, many parents have invested more time in work at the expense of their children. This has caused most adolescents to seek autonomy and independence on their own thus leading many to turn to their peers for consultation (Nickerson & Nagle, 2005). It is not yet clear whether the difficulty of parents to be in touch with their children as expected, results into maladaptive behaviors such as aggression, drug abuse, and sexual pervasion, permissiveness, lack of altruism, compliance, lack of cooperation with instructions/demands, verbally inappropriate behaviors, laziness among others which are contrary to social values which raise high concern to the government UNICEF (2013). This study will endeavor to find out the relationship between parental attachment and personal values in adolescents.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between parental attachment and personal values among adolescents.

 1.4 Objectives of the Study

1. To determine the quality of parental attachment amongst adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district.
2. To investigate the most common personal values among adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district.
3. To establish the relationship between parental attachment and personal values among adolescents.
4. To examine how counseling strategies can promote parental attachment and positive personal values in adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district

1.5 Research Questions

1. What is the quality of parental attachment amongst adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district?
2. What are the most common personal values in adolescents in secondary schools in Wakiso district?
3. What is the relationship between parental attachment and personal values among adolescents?
4. How can counseling strategies promote parental attachment and positive personal values in adolescents?

1.6.0 Scope of the Study

1.6.1 Content Scope

The study was limited to the most common forms of parental attachment used by parents of adolescents, the most common personal values in adolescents, relationship between parental attachment and personal values, and how counseling strategies can enhance on parental attachment and positive personal values in adolescents.

1.6.2 Geographical Scope

The study will be conducted in four secondary schools in Wakiso District. This district is found in central Uganda (Buganda region). Wakiso district borders Kampala in the north, Mukono in the south, Mpigi in the west. The choice of this district is because a number of maladaptive cases are on the increase in Wakiso secondary schools just like elsewhere in the country and it would be representative of schools country wide (Rosenberg,2013).

1.6.3 Time Scope

This time scope as be between 2010-2016, and the research was be carried out between August 2016 – 2017.

1.7 Justification of the Study

A number of indiscipline cases   among adolescents have been linked to negative personal values, (Namaganda. et al., 2014). This has resulted into maladaptive behaviors in adolescents and all this is thought to have its roots with parental attachment. According to Berzonsky (2004), poor parental attachment causes intellectual, emotional, and psychological challenges and may cause lack of focus in adolescents who may end up becoming wasted in society. This might lead to a big loss to the country as her youngsters might end up becoming unproductive, juvenile delinquents and dependants.

 1.8 Significance of the Study

This study may add value to the existing body of knowledge in the fields of parental attachment, development of personal values, value crisis management and school counseling.  This study will be a foundation to many applicable suggestions that will make adolescent counseling more effective.  This study will give a better understanding of the adolescents’ most common personal values.   The study may help future researchers as a source of literature; serve as a source of reference as they would be handling issues that relate to parental attachment as well as adolescents’ value formation.

1.9        Conceptual Framework

This conceptual frame work depicted the relationship between parental attachment and personal values in adolescents. The independent variable includes   secure attachment, insecure avoidant, insecure/ resistant and disorganized/disoriented.  When there is a shift away from parents in early adolescence, feelings of self-reliance may be diminished, and may lead to the adolescent being unduly susceptible to peer-group pressure, especially in antisocial activity (Steinberg, & Silverberg, 1986).

The conceptual framework which illustrates the independent variable of parental attachment, it involves secure attachment, insecure avoidant, Insecure/ Resistant, Disorganized/Disoriented as forms parental attachment

This independent variable affects the dependant variable (personal values) of adolescents differently as illustrated in the conceptual framework;  if there is secure attachment then this would bring about honesty, affection, decision making, responsibility and accountability, positive self concept, personal development and loyalty in adolescents and when parents are not around insecure attachment ( the children develop their own values. There is little bond between the children and their parents). In this study, a parent is a caretaker/ care giver to an adolescent. He/ she may be biological or guardian and Parental attachment is the nurturing relationship between parents and their adolescents. Parents everywhere seek that emotional bond with their children.

The impact of moderating variables (Trust, Environment and Government policy) on this study will be controlled by focusing research instruments on the independent and dependent variable only. This is because the extraneous variable is not part of my study but the purpose is for me to be aware of them. The researcher intends to find out the relationship between parental attachment and personal values in adolescents.

1.9.1 Theoretical Perspective

The attachment theory will be used to guide this study. The theory was originally formulated by Bowlby and recently expanded by others. Three broad dimensions are assessed: degree of mutual trust; quality of communication; and extent of anger and alienation. Ainsworth’s work was important for at least three reasons. First, she provided one of the first empirical demonstrations of how attachment behavior is patterned in both safe and frightening contexts. Second, she provided the first empirical taxonomy of individual differences in infant attachment patterns. According to her research, at least three types of children exist: those who are secure in their relationship with their parents, those who are anxious-resistant, and those who are anxious-avoidant. Finally, she demonstrated that these individual differences were correlated with infant-parent interactions in the home during the first year of life.

Children who appear secure in the strange situation, for example, tend to have parents who are responsive to their needs. Children who appear insecure in the strange situation (i.e., anxious-resistant or avoidant) often have parents who are insensitive to their needs, or inconsistent or rejecting in the care they provide. In the years that have followed, a number of researchers have demonstrated links between early parental sensitivity and responsiveness and attachment security.

According to attachment theory, children differ in the kinds of strategies they use to regulate attachment-related anxiety. Following a separation and reunion, for example, some insecure children approach their parents, but with ambivalence and resistance, whereas others withdraw from their parents, apparently minimizing attachment-related feelings and behavior. One of the big questions in the study of infant attachment is whether children who withdraw from their parents–avoidant children–are truly less distressed or whether their defensive behavior is a cover-up for their true feelings of vulnerability. Research that has measured the intentional capacity of children, heart rate, or stress hormone levels suggests that avoidant children are distressed by the separation despite the fact that they come across in a cool, defensive manner. This could be the case with Ugandan adolescents particularly in Wakiso district.

Figure 2; Model of Attachment by Brennan (1940)

In the figure above, two qualities of parent attachment is reflected- secure and insecure attachment. With secure attachment there is low avoidance, security, low anxiety and dismissing avoidant characteristics while insecure attachment includes high anxiety, preoccupation, fearful avoidance and high avoidance.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2. 0 Introduction

This chapter addresses the research objectives, which this study is set to investigate. The chapter will review various forms of parental attachment amongst adolescent, investigate personal values among adolescents in secondary schools, establish the relationship between parental attachment and personal values among adolescents and examine how counseling strategies can improve on parental attachment and positive personal values in adolescents in secondary schools using published articles, journals, reports and text books in Uganda and world at large.

2.1    Parental Attachment and Child value Strategies

Some researchers have argued that parents make little or no difference in how their children navigate the adolescent period, pointing instead to data showing that peer influence dominates this period. Contrary to this position, there is growing evidence that parents do make a difference, and that this difference operates through the nature of their attachment bond with their child Doyle & Moretti (2000). It is not yet certain on how parents in Wakiso district are helping their children navigate the adolescent period so as to come up with better personal values for their life well being.

The concept of attachment came to light through the work of  Bowlby (1972). Bowlby became interested in early infant bonding to a mother figure while he was studying the adverse effects of inadequate maternal care during early childhood on personality development. He found that the widely held psychoanalytic explanations of early personality development, which focused on dependency and feeding, were inadequate. Psychoanalytic explanations did not reflect the central role that the mother-child emotional bond plays in early personality development (Bowlby, 1988).

Secure attachment and its aim is to strengthen the intuitive, psychological and emotional bond between the primary caregiver, typically the mother, and child. Attachment parenting is rooted in the belief that if an infant’s emotional and physical needs are quickly and consistently responded to and met, the child will be likely to build a positive attitude to life believing that he or she is unconditionally loved, that the world is a good place and people mean well and can be trusted. A child’s bond with a primary caregiver plays a key role in later social emotional and cognitive development. It sets the stage for later learning, intelligence and academic achievement because, based on the quality of the attachment relationship, the child develops an internal representation of himself, others and the environment that guides his response to others and the environment.

Various research studies have proved that a basic sense of emotional and existential security is a crucial corner stone in healthy child development. This high focus on meeting needs is best done by very close attachment between caregiver and child (Khosla & Makkar, 2007).

The logic is that the more you tune to bond with and connect with your child, the better you will know your child and thus the more quickly you will be able to read your child, understand and fulfil his or her needs. Sears (2001) strongly opposes the traditional view that always meeting your child’s needs as quickly as possible results in spoiled and dependent children. He believes the complete opposite is true: That the more and the quicker you meet your children’s need, the better and the faster you prepare them for healthy independence.

Securely attached children feel confident that the attachment figure will be available to meet their needs. They use the attachment figure as a safe base to explore the environment and seek the attachment figure in times of distress (Main and Cassidy, 1988). Securely attached infants are easily soothed by the attachment figure when upset. Infants develop a secure attachment when the caregiver is sensitive to their signals, and responds appropriately to their needs. According to Bowlby (1980), an individual who has experienced a secure attachment is likely to possess a representational model of attachment figures as being available, responsive, and helpful. Securely attached children have a positive working model of the self and others and have a pattern of warm and sensitive interactions with responsive caregivers (Karass and Braungart-Reiker, 2004).

According to a study by Behrens, Hesse, and Main (2007), insecure avoidant is another form of parental attachment where children do not orientate to their attachment figure while investigating the environment. They are very independent of the attachment figure both physically and emotionally. They do not seek contract with the attachment figure when distressed. Such children are likely to have a caregiver who is insensitive and rejecting of their needs (Ainsworth, 1979). The attachment figure may withdraw from helping during difficult tasks Stevenson-Hinde and Verschueren (2002) and is often unavailable during times of emotional distress.

The third parental attachment style which was studied by Ainsworth (1970) was insecure ambivalent (also called insecure resistant). Here children adopt an ambivalent behavioral style towards the attachment figure. The child will commonly exhibit clingy and dependent behavior, but will be rejecting of the attachment figure when they engage in interaction. The child fails to develop any feelings of security from the attachment figure. Accordingly they exhibit difficulty moving away from the attachment figure to explore novel surroundings. When distressed they are difficult to soothe and are not comforted by interaction with the attachment figure. This behavior results from an inconsistent level of response to their needs from the primary caregiver (O’Connor & McCartney, 2007).

Disorganized/disoriented has also been stressed as another form of attachment. In the strange situation, the attachment system is expected to be activated by the departure and return of the caregiver. If the behavior of the infant does not appear to the observer to be coordinated in a smooth way across episodes to achieve either proximity or some relative proximity with the caregiver, then it is considered as disorganized. Infant behaviors in the strange situation Protocol coded as disorganized/disoriented include overt displays of fear; contradictory behaviors or affects occurring simultaneously or sequentially; stereotypic, asymmetric, misdirected or jerky movements; or freezing and apparent dissociation (Kochanska, Grazyna, and Sanghag, 2013).

Howard and Medway (2004), states that attachment security in adolescence predicts more constructive coping skills and significant gains in social skills from 16 to 18 years of age. Securely attached adolescents manage the transition to high school more successfully; enjoy more positive relationships and experience less conflict with family and peers than do insecurely attached adolescents. This is in line with Ducharme, Doyle and Markiewicz, (2002) on attachment security with mother and father associations with adolescents’ reports of interpersonal behavior with parents and peers as being relevant in attachment formation.

2.2 Personal values among adolescents in secondary schools

Few studies, particularly in developing countries, have explored the relationship between parental attachment and personal values formation with adolescent problem behaviors. A value is a belief, a mission, or a philosophy that is meaningful. Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, every individual has a core or personal values (PV).

Values can range from the common place, such as the belief in hard work and punctuality, to the more psychological, such as self-reliance, concern for others, and harmony of purpose. Values multiply the power of action and its results. The more it express, the greater its power and effectively. Personal values for an individual are a reflection of the highest principle of mind and thought, and can even be said to be a part of spiritual domain. Personal values that are experienced by adolescents are ranked higher in order than the social values which seemed abstract or impersonal. In practical life, personal values play very effective role Knafo and Schwartz (2003), found out that studies have shown that people who affirmed their values had lower blood cholesterol levels in response to stress. PVs have a very important effect in motivating adolescents to smoke. Even the sexual behavior of urban girls is guided by PVs. This could be the case in Wakiso secondary schools.

Families are considered to be the central context for value socialization, and are considered an important factor for the development of children’s values (Kimberly andBadger, 1998). However, it has been difficult to demonstrate empirically the influence of parental values on those of their offspring. Previous studies have documented that parental values and children’s values are poorly correlated. Research suggests that children may or may not perceive parental values accurately; further, children may accept or reject the parental values they perceive. Thus, the poor correlation between parental values and children’s values could result from children’s inaccurate perception of their parents’ values or their rejection of their parental values.

Development of personal values in adolescents is a critical and complicated process for adolescents. Erikson (1959) maintained that the formation of a healthy sense of identity was crucial in transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. This important step in maturing is challenged from many sources. Prior research has identified both psychological stress and anti-social behavior as adversaries to value formation (Wires, Barocas, and Hollenbeck, 1994).

However, new research has implicated lifestyle, classroom dynamics, peer interactions, and parental influences to be associated with personal value formation as well. In addition, public image as transmitted through media services plays a role in determining an adolescent’s acceptance of gender roles and expressions (Shaw, Kleiber, and Caldwell, 1995). It is not yet clear whether the adolescents of secondary schools in Wakiso district are facing the same challenges as regards development of personal values.

Adolescents struggle with managing the myriad of personal value contradictions resulting in increased vilence (Goodey, 1997), harassment (Murnen and Smolak, 2000), sexual deviance (Bogaret, 2003), and self-destructive acts (Beautrais, 2003), Understanding the people, places, and associations related to identity formation will assist caregivers to distinguish healthy approaches for adolescent development. Gender identity differences are considered to be interpersonally and environmentally influenced (Pollack, 1995). This is attested to, in part, by the questioning of the meaning of masculinity that typically occurs during periods of social and economic tensions (Kimmel, 2005).

Responding to the influx of juvenile violence in China by CCTV News, Yang Xine (2013), said the bad behavior is blamed on negative new technology with bad games, books and television shows that provoke such violent acts in adolescents. He recommended serious guidance on what to watch by not watching programs which impact negative values in children. This could probably be the same as regards personal values development in Uganda.

According to James (2000), in the study behaviors in adolescents, he stresses that some children are affected by poor financial backgrounds which makes them not to afford school fees, and other requirements. They end up dropping out of school and joining anywhere for survival. This is where they meet their peers who might at times end up teaching them behaviors like taking distilled local gin, drug addictions hence loosing life targets and they end up becoming problems to society. There is need to establish whether Ugandan adolescents are going through the same. Extroverts tend to differ in personal values which make it hard for parents to establish their values religions, conflicting culture beliefs between the guardians.

2.3   Relationship between parental attachment and personal values in adolescents

The theory of attachment was originally developed by Bowlby (1907-1990), the theorist who attempted to understand the intense distress experienced by infants who had been separated from their parents. According to Erikson (1977), the development of identity proceeds through eight life stages, each of which represents a period of heightened potential and increased vulnerability of a particular component of the personality.  The personal value formation process shares certain basic tenets with traditional attachment theory. In general, the two paradigms both indicate that security, exploration, and development are influenced by relationships with parents and that behavior is guided by constructions of perceptions of self and the environment (Benson et al., 1992).

Erikson (1959, 1980) postulated that the relationship between the mother and the infant is a catalyst for value development. The concept is advanced by Bowlby (1969; 1984); he defines the mother as a ‘secure relational base’, whose primary function incorporates personal value development and the reduction of psychological distress. It’s not yet clear whether the same is happening with Uganda adolescents hence the need to establish what is happening to adolescents a case of Kajjansi SS in Wakiso district.

Both Erikson (1980) and Bowlby (1980) adhere to some form or another of the epigenetic principles of psychological development. The essence of the principle is that the quality and direction of early psychological development, is formative of later stages of development. For instance, developing trust in the early maternal relationship sets the stage for identity achievement in later life (Erikson, 1959, 1980) and (Hoegh, & Bourgeois, 2002).

Attachment theory was originally developed to explain the bond between infants and their caregivers, and it has become an important theory to explain the lasting influence of close relationships on an individual’ psychological well-being. The basic premise of attachment theory is that individuals’ experiences with the emotional availability of attachment figures in their lives shape their feelings of felt security and trust in others (Bowlby, 1980). As a result of their early experiences with caregivers, individuals construct internal working models of themselves, others, and relationships used to guide their expectations in subsequent close relationships (Bretherton, 1990).

Psychoanalytic writers held that these behavioral and emotional expressions (crying, clinging) were manifestations of immature defense mechanisms that were operating to repress emotional pain but Bowlby noted that such expressions are common to wide mammalian species, and speculated that these behaviors may be serving an evolutionary function. Bowlby (1988) argued that the attachment system develops in the first three years of life to ensure proximity to the caregiver, thereby managing the anxiety associated with the fear of abandonment.

Specifically, adolescence is supposed to be a period where internal working models may finally stabilize, and as consequence, would be rather resistant to change. As competencies grow during the teenage year, attachment behavior is elicited less often compared to infancy. In addition, it is less likely to be expressed by seeking direct physical proximity but rather by communicating

One’s feelings and concerns to the caregivers when needed (Bowlby, 1980 and Bretherton, 1990). Longitudinal studies from infancy to childhood showed a high stability of infant attachment organization. Discontinuity of attachment was explained by changes in the care giving system. Thus, the stability of the care giving conditions is one influential factor for the stability of attachment organization in childhood Grossmann and Zimmermann (1999). As attachment organization childhood already is very stable, a high stability of attachment patterns during adolescence can be expected. However, the assessment at both ages is different.

Ainsworth (1989) posited a major shift in attachment behaviors with the onset of adolescence, leading the young person to establish a partnership with an age peer, usually of the opposite sex. She also maintained that young adults generally attain a sense of autonomy from their parents, as a likely result of a gradual process operating from infancy.

Through adolescence, however, she contended that there is good reason to believe that autonomy does not necessarily imply that the young adult’s attachment to parents has stopped. The importance of the parental relationship throughout childhood warrants the inference that it continues to affect a person into adulthood.

2.4 Counseling strategies for effective parental attachment towards positive personal values in adolescents.

Spiritual parenting does not have a root in science. However, based on Chopra (2003),  It’s said to have roots in modern teachings of eastern spiritual philosophy which is known for a focus on raising inner awareness, appreciating that which is and being deeply connected with everything in the Now. Spiritual parenting is thus not about worshipping a specific God or Goddess or about adhering to a specific formalized religion. It’s not fluffy or airy. Rather the opposite, actually. It’s really quite down to earth. It’s just about Being, full acceptance and seeking deep interconnectedness.

Spiritual parenting is about respecting each child’s individuality and creates the space for each child to develop his or her own beliefs based on his or her unique personality and individual potentials.  The best way to raise highly aware and conscious children is by example. Simply is that what you want your children to be! Don’t teach role models, be a role model yourself. Don’t preach rules and behaviour, be whatever you want your children to learn and experience Chopra (2003).

Parental attachment impacts on personal value formation among adolescents and increases the vulnerability to certain psychological problems such as tensions, depression, anxiety, distress, anger, insomnia, and bulimia. Harmful effects of hampered identity formation can be mitigated through coping (Khosla & Kapur, 2007).

During any stressful life experience, both positive and negative affect co-occur. There is a need to engage and access the positive side as soon as possible. This is so because positive affect has been shown to have adaptation significance. It helps to deal with stress effectively and overcome its harmful consequences quickly (Khosla, 2006). Parents as adults have many roles to play in guiding and counseling these adolescents towards problem solving where children can run to in times of consultation for advice. Positive affect predisposes one to appraise the stressful situation as challenging, fostering hope, and belief that it may be beneficial in some way. By finding meaning in simple life events, moments, objects, induces happiness for a moment. This brief state of happiness provides immense source of energy to fight back from any life-threatening situation effectively.

According to Sandoval (2002), coping skills involve easing the tension caused by anxiety. The ego employs a number of coping strategies, often known as defense mechanisms all of which involve some level of subconscious or unconscious distortion of reality. Some of the defense mechanisms include; Denial, Repression, Suppression, Sublimation, Projection, Displacement, Intellectualization, Reaction Formation, Rationalization, and Regression.

Problem focused coping helps to confront the reality brought about by the crisis. When reality is faced, then information lands on fertile ground and it is useful for the healing process to progress. Skills dealt with here include; seeking information and support, taking problem solving action and identifying alternative rewards. One would therefore have to identify and deal with the problems arising one at a time as they come (Sandoval, 2002).

Emotion focused therapy helps the caregiver to manage feelings generated by the crisis and maintain effective equilibrium. If the affected person is not emotionally stable then they themselves will end up depressed thus slowing down the caring process.  Emotions must be controlled or vented in a way that brings relief. An emotionally stable caregiver is the foundation on which the patient stands to face life. Skills dealt with here include; affective regulation, emotional discharge and resigned acceptance (Sandoval, 2002).

2.5 Conclusion

From the review of the available literature, it is evident that a number of studies have been carried out on parental attachment, personal value formation in adolescents, in community catchment areas of the first world countries. Majority of these studies were evaluative; while others were comparative and exploratory in nature. Public literature highlighting a few instances of attachments and personal value formation was sketchy in sub Saharan Africa. No study similar to parental attachment and personal value formation among adolescents has been carried out here in Uganda.  This study, parental attachment and personal values among adolescents will attempt to fill the existing knowledge gaps that exist in the fields of community psychology, educational psychology, counseling and health psychology.