Perceived Parental Neglect, and Children's Psychological Maladjustment, and Negative Personality Dispositions: A Meta-analysis of Multi-cultural Studies

The objective of this meta-analysis is to address three questions drawn from one of the basic postulates of parental acceptance–rejection theory: (1) To what extent is children’s perceptions of parental indifference/neglect related to their psychological maladjustment? (2) To what extent is children’s perceptions of parental indifference/ neglect related to their negative personality dispositions? (3) Do relations found in these questions vary by the gender of parents? The meta-analysis was based on 33 studies from 15 countries on four continents involving 11,755 children (52 % boys and 48 % girls). All studies included in the meta-analysis, used child versions of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire for Mothers and for Fathers, as well as the child version of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Results showed that perceived maternal and paternal indifference/neglect correlated significantly with the psychological maladjustment and negative personality dispositions of children across ethnicities, cultures, and geographical boundaries. There were no significant differences between the effect sizes of perceived maternal and paternal indifference/neglect on either psychological maladjustment, or negative personality dispositions of children.