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It has been hypothesized by attachment researchers that the transition to
college simulates the “strange situation,” thus activating the attachment
motivational system. This transition involves separation from attachment
figures, causes utilization of a secure base, and exploration of a novel
environment (Kenny, 1987). A substantial body of research suggests that
secure attachment is related to a positive transition to college (for a meta-
analysis of this body of work see Mattanah, Lopez, & Govern (2011)).
The mechanisms by which attachment to parents facilitates the adjustment to
college has not been fully explicated. Particular coping mechanisms may
mediate the relationship between attachment and college adjustment
because in studies of stressful events, attachment orientations have been
linked to various coping strategies. A smooth transition to college could be
facilitated by a strong parental attachment, if that attachment were to
facilitate an instrumental coping style. Conversely, a more problematic
transition to college could be due to a coping style that is less adaptive.
Using a latent model approach, we hypothesized that a positive adjustment
to college will be related to the strength of attachment to parents—and
instrumental coping strategies will partially mediate this relationship.
Methods
Conclusions
Does Instrumental Coping Mediate the Parental
Attachment and College Adjustment Relationship?
Anika Hansen, Alahna Keil, and Iloria Pheonix
Presented at the 2016 meeting of the Tri-State Undergraduate Psychology Conference
Faculty Advisor: David Bishop
Figure 1. Three-variable mediation model for mothers.
References
College students (N=294) nearing the end of the first academic year were
asked to complete instruments measuring attachment, coping, and
adjustment to college. Attachment was measured with the subscales of the
Parental Attachment Questionnaire (Kenny, 1987): Affective Quality of
Attachment (AQR), Parental Fostering of Autonomy (PFI), and Parental Role
in Providing Emotional Support (PSS). Coping was assessed using the
COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Three subscales of this
instrument were chosen as indicators of general instrumental coping:
Planning, Positive Reinterpretation, and Active Coping. Adjustment to
college was assessed with three subscales of the Student Adaptation to
College Questionnaire (Baker and Siryk, 1984, 1986): Social Adjustment,
Personal-Emotional Adjustment, and Institutional Attachment. Structural
equation modeling using AMOS 19.0 was used to model mediation
separately for attachment to mother and attachment to father.
Baker, R. & Siryk, B. (1984). Measuring adjustment to college. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 179-189.
Carver, C., Scheier, M., & Weintraub, J. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267-283.
Kenny, M. (1987). The extent and function of parental attachment among first-year college students. Journal of Youth
and Adolescence, 16, 17-27.
Mattanah, J., Lopez, F., & Govern, J. (2011). The contributions of parental attachment bonds to college student
development and adjustment: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 565-596.
The overall fit of the two-variable latent model for mothers was good: CMIN(6)
=3.380, p=.760; CFI=1.00; GFI=.996; TLI=1.007; RMSEA=.000. The overall
fit for the mediation model for mothers was acceptable, however the path
between parental attachment and coping was not significant. The fit of the
two-variable, non-mediated model for mothers was good: CMIN(21)=32.407,
p=.071; CFI=.991; GFI=.975; TLI=.986; RMSEA=.041. The path diagram with
standardized path coefficients for mothers is shown in Figure 1.
The overall fit of the two-variable latent model for fathers was good: CMIN(6)
=14.139, p=.028; CFI=.991; GFI=.984; TLI=.978; RMSEA=.069. The overall
fit for the mediation model for fathers was acceptable, however the path
between parental attachment and coping was not significant. The fit of the
two-variable, non-mediated model for fathers was good: CMIN(21) =52.282,
p=.000; CFI=.975; GFI=.961; TLI=.960; RMSEA=.069. The path diagram with
standardized path coefficients for fathers is shown in Figure 2.
Table 1
Zero-order correlations among indicators.
Mother correlations above the diagonal; father correlations below the diagonal
* Correlation sig. at the .05 level (2-tailed); ** Correlation sig. at the .01 level (2-tailed)
The results of our two-variable latent analyses add to the growing body of
evidence documenting that a strong parental attachment is related to a
positive transition to college. Just as the child uses the security of
attachment as a secure base to explore strange situations, interact with
strangers, and cope with the stresses of separation, the young adult uses
the security of attachment to help them negotiate the demands of the
transition to college. The results of our three-variable latent analyses
suggest that instrumental coping does not play a mediating role in this
relationship. However, our results confirmed that instrumental coping plays
an independent role in the transition to college. Future research should
further explore other potential mediating variables in the parental
attachment and college adjustment relationship.
Introduction
Results
Figure 2. Three-variable mediation model for fathers.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Acad Adj ---- .544** .476** .201** .129* .251** .155** .213** .240**
2. Attach .544** ---- .831** .065** .172** .111 .082 .156** .138*
3. Soc Adjust .476** .831** ---- .176** .226** .179** .108 .119* .129*
4. Act Coping .201** .065 .176** ---- .389** .711** .132* .036 .064
5. Pos Reinter .129* .172** .226** .389** ---- .438** .122* .026 .112
6. Planning .251** .111 .179** .711** .438** ---- .122* .017 .088
7. PSS .185** .130* .139* .179** .135* .176** ---- .467** .729**
8. PFI .268** .275** .165** .040 .093 .068 .530** ---- .722**
9. AQR .241** .230** .171** .120* .110 .131* .791** .686** ----
AQR Mother
PFI Mother
e
PSS Mother
e
e
Parental
Attach
College
Adjust
Coping
e
Planning Pos Reinter Act Coping
e e
Acad Adjust
Social Adjust
e
e
Attachment e
.94
.77
.61
.57
.24
.35
.83
.58
.43 .79.
.89
.49
.80
e
Acad Adjust
Social Adjust
Attachment
e
e
e
College
Adjust
Coping
e
Parental
Attach
AQR Father
PFI Father
e
e
e PSS Father
Planning
e
Pos Reinter
e
Act Coping
e
.79
.87
.61
.36
.25
.64
.90
.49
.79
.74
.83
.57
.64
.38
.08
e
.12
e