Odnos između afektivne vezanosti i empatije kod adolescenata
The relationship between family attachment and empathy in adolescents

Summary/Abstract: Attachment can be seen as a care system through which key tasks in the psychological development of an individual are realized - the development of the self and its regulation mechanisms, and above all the capacity for mentalization. According to Bowlby, the child establishes an attachment to the caregiver in infancy, and the quality of this relationship depends on the consistency and sensitivity of the caregiver through the accuracy of recognizing the child’s needs and their timely satisfaction. Bowlby emphasized that attachment plays a significant role in understanding the development of empathy, as evidenced by some empirical findings. The aim of this paper is to examine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between family attachment and empathy in adolescents. Attachment was operationalized through the dimensions of anxiety and avoidance, and empathy through the dimensions of cognitive and emotional empathy. 160 adolescents participated in the research (M = 67, F = 92), average age M = 19.14 (SD = 1.53). The following measuring instruments were used: Socio-demographic questionnaire, the Family Attachment Questionnaire (PAVb) and the Basic Empathy Scale (BES). The results of the correlation analysis show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the dimension of avoidance and emotional (r = - .27; p < .05) and cognitive empathy (r = - .29; p < .05), as well as a statistically significant positive correlation between dimensions of anxiety and emotional empathy (r = .22; p < .01). The results are discussed within the framework of attachment theory.Attachment can be seen as a care system through which key tasks in the psychological develop¬ment of an individual are realized - the development of the self and its regulation mechanisms, and above all the capacity for mentalization. According to Bowlby, the child establishes an attach¬ment to the caregiver in infancy, and the quality of this relationship depends on the consistency and sensitivity of the caregiver through the accuracy of recognizing the child's needs and their timely satisfaction. Bowlby emphasized that attachment plays a significant role in understanding the development of empathy as evidenced by some empirical findings. The aim of this paper is to examine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between family attachment and empathy in adolescents. Attachment was operationalized through the dimensions of anx¬iety and avoidance, and empathy through the dimensions of cognitive and emotional empathy. 160 adolescents participated in the research (M = 67, F = 92), average age M = 19.14 (SD = 1.53). The following measuring instruments were used: Socio-demographic questionnaire, the Family Attachment Questionnaire (PAVb) and the Basic Empathy Scale (BES). The results of the cor¬relation analysis show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the dimension of avoidance and emotional (r = - .27; p < .05) and cognitive empathy (r = - .29; p < .05), as well as a statistically significant positive correlation between dimensions of anxiety and emo¬tional empathy (r = .22; p < .01). The results are discussed within the framework of attachment theory.

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