| Abstract
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This study examined the relationship between attachment and depression in European American, Pakistani American, and Pakistani National young adults. Specifically, this study investigated how perceived parental attachment contributes to young adults' level of depression in cultures other than Western European and North American. The major hypotheses of this study were drawn from attachment theory. Researchers have suggested that cross-cultural validity of attachment theory should be upheld or denied through the testing of theoretical predictions across cultures. The sample consisted of 180 male and female young adults recruited from various colleges and universities in the U.S. and Pakistan. Participants were administered a demographic questionnaire, the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-Revised, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the Suinn-Lew-Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale. Results indicated that in the case of attachment to father, Pakistani Nationals had higher levels of attachment than the other two groups, but for attachment to mother there were no differences. Pakistani Americans and European Americans did not differ in terms of their levels of attachment to their parents. In addition, attachment and depression were negatively related for all three groups. When differences between males and females were examined, there were no differences in terms of overall levels of attachment to mothers or fathers. However, when the relationship between depression and attachment was examined, an inverse correlation between attachment to mother and depression was confirmed among females in all three groups. Similarly, there was an inverse correlation between attachment to father and depression among males in all three groups. When levels of acculturation between the two Pakistani groups were compared, Pakistani Americans had higher acculturation scores than Pakistani Nationals. The negative correlation between depression and paternal attachment for Pakistani Nationals was stronger than the correlation between depression and paternal attachment for Pakistani Americans. Keywords: paternal, maternal, attachment, depression, acculturation, ethnicity.
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