Abstract

The goal of this study is to examine how a maternal attachment style influences the self-esteem, depression, psychological well-being, and behavioral problems of her children. This is a cross cultural study in which a Korean population is compared with an American population. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the distribution of maternal attachment styles between Korea and America was not statistically significant. The level of Korean mothers' self-esteem was lower than that of American mothers. In addition, the 'somatic complaints' behavioral problem was more frequent in the Korean child group. But the 'aggression' behavioral problem was more frequent in the American child group. Second, in the American group the children of mothers with an unstable attachment style showed more frequent behavioral problems than the children of mothers with a stable attachment style. It becomes clear that a maternal attachment style is a very important variable that affects the child development. Lastly, when examining the paths through which a maternal attachment style influences her child's behavior, this researcher discovered that in the American group, the maternal attachment style indirectly influenced both internalized and externalized behavioral problems of the children through the maternal depression. This suggests that the maternal depression works as an antagonizing factor along the path in which a maternal attachment style influences her child's behavior.