While poor parental bonding has been linked with psychological distress, few studies have assessed bonding with mothers and fathers separately among adolescents and whether there are gender differences in the relationships between bonding and psychological distress. Additionally, low self-esteem has been shown to predict psychological distress, but low self-esteem may develop as a result of poor bonding with parental figures. We explored the relationships between (a) perceived maternal and paternal bonding factors and (b) psychological distress, and examined whether self-esteem mediated these relationships in a non-clinical sample of 337 adolescents (aged 13–17 years, M = 14.17, 50.6% female) in Canberra, Australia. Relative to males, females reported lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of psychological distress. For females, low self-esteem and perceived maternal or paternal rejection predicted higher levels of psychological distress, whereas low self-esteem predicted psychological distress for males. Implications for future research and further considerations are discussed.

中文翻译：

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母亲和父亲的联系和自尊是男性和女性青少年心理困扰的预测因素

虽然不良的父母关系与心理困扰有关，但很少有研究评估青少年与父母的关系，以及在关系与心理困扰之间的关系是否存在性别差异。此外，低自尊已被证明可以预测心理困扰，但低自尊可能是由于与父母关系不佳而导致的。我们探讨了 (a) 感知到的母亲和父亲结合因素与 (b) 心理困扰之间的关系，并在 337 名青少年（年龄 13-17 岁，米= 14.17, 50.6% 女性）在澳大利亚堪培拉。相对于男性，女性报告的自尊水平较低，心理困扰程度较高。对于女性来说，低自尊和感知到的母亲或父亲的拒绝预示着更高水平的心理困扰，而低自尊则预示着男性的心理困扰。讨论了对未来研究和进一步考虑的影响。