ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Human Developmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1700648
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Power of Relationships in Human Development: From Prenatal Bonding to Attachment Across the LifespanView all 9 articles
The effect of secure attachment on family relationships and peer bullying in adolescents: the mediating role of positive childhood experiences
Provisionally accepted
- 1Batman Universitesi, Batman, Türkiye
- 2Van Yuzuncu Yil Universitesi, Van, Türkiye
- 3Bitlis Eren Universitesi, Bitlis, Türkiye
- 4Shaqra University, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia
- 5Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- 6Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo, Samborondon, Ecuador
- 7Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Agri, Türkiye
- 8Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan
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This study examines whether secure attachment mediates the relationship between positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and adolescents' family and peer outcomes. The sample includes 574 high school students (301 female [52.4%], 273 male), aged 14 to 18 years (M = 16.28, SD = 1.45). Participants completed the Brief Family Relationships Scale, the Attachment Styles Scale, the Peer Bullying Scale, and the Positive Childhood Experiences Scale. Results indicated that PCEs were positively associated with secure attachment, which in turn was positively linked to family cohesion and negatively linked to family conflict and peer bullying. Simple mediation analyses confirmed that secure attachment significantly mediated the associations between PCEs and each outcome. Although PCEs showed a positive correlation with family cohesion, the scale captures a broader range of positive childhood experiences beyond family interactions, including peer relationships, supportive environments, and community-level factors. These findings highlight secure attachment as a key mechanism through which positive early experiences contribute to adolescents' social and family adjustment, emphasizing the importance of fostering supportive developmental experiences across multiple contexts.
Keywords: Secure attachment, family relationships, Peer bullying, Positive childhood experiences, adolescents
Received: 07 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Çiçek, Korkmaz, Ünsal, Shalal Alanazi, Gómez-Salgado and Yildirim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Murat Yildirim, muratyildirim@agri.edu.tr
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