EFFECTS OF GENDER, AGE AND DIAGNOSIS ON PERCEIVED PARENTAL CARE AND PROTECTION IN ADOLESCENTS

To assess whether perceived parental care and protection varied accord ing to age and gender of the child and whether they were associated wi th psychiatric diagnoses, these constructs were measured with the Pare ntal Bonding Instrument in a cohort of non-referred adolescents (n = 7 62), in a clinically referred cohort (n = 1299), and in a group of ado lescents from the referred cohort (n = 365) for whom DSM-III diagnoses were available. Significant differences in parental care and protecti on according to clinical status, age, gender and diagnosis were found. However, perceived parental affectionless control was not associated with emotional disorders in adolescents, contrary to reports in adult subjects, but with clinical status.