The Structure of Parental Bonding in South African Students

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI: Parker, Tupling & Brown, 1979) offers a practical way of conceptualizing parental experiences. In the present study, PBI scores of 522 students from a South African university were factor analyzed, yielding a three-factor structure for the maternal-PBI subscale. However, the paternal-PBI data were interpretable only for a four-factor solution. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and Kendler's (1996) three-factor model offered the best-fit to the maternal-PBI data. The regression analyses on depression versus PBI factors of warmth, protectiveness and authoritarianism showed that higher parenting-style scores of maternal authoritarianism and paternal warmth increased the subjective experience of depression, and paternal protectiveness predicted a decrease of depression reports.