Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in…

The present study explored the relationship between binary gender, stress, adaptation, and coping in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study participants were college students, ages 18+, attending an institute of higher education in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because male and female students have been known to…

Internal working models of social relationships are based on the earliest attachment bonds we make with caregivers (Bowlby, 1969, 1973), and relate to a number of later outcomes in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. In education, attachment styles map on to young children's educational journey but finding evidence in older groups has been…

The events surrounding Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court will have an effect of college campuses--and not just in the near term. Campuses will be brimming over with concerns about how people treat each other, how people engage with each other, how people of different views can respond to each other and how we form attachments to…

The definition of a traumatic event in Criterion A for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was narrowed in DSM-5 for events involving indirect exposure to the death of a loved one. Whereas the DSM-IV definition encompassed the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one regardless of the circumstances, the DSM-5 definition now requires that the death…

Primary prevention of men's intimate partner violence (IPV) toward women in dating relationships is an important area of psychological inquiry and a significant concern for counselors working with college student populations. Previous research has identified that certain beliefs condoning or accepting physical, sexual, and psychological violence…

We investigated the relationship between parent support and peer support as predictors of depression and self-esteem in college students. Several competing models of parental and peer influence were compared including a mediational model in which peer support was hypothesized to mediate the effects of parental support on adjustment. The results…

This study examined the contributions of gender, adult romantic attachment orientations (i.e., avoidance, anxiety), defense mechanisms (i.e., narcissism, other-splitting), and stressors to college student psychological abuse perpetration (dominance). Men with higher levels of attachment avoidance, narcissistic entitlement, and stressful problems…

We report findings from a meta-analysis of 156 studies conducted between 1987 and 2009 (N = 32,969) that examined the relationship between self-reported parental attachment and multiple adjustment outcomes and developmental advances during the college years. Overall, a small-to-medium relationship was found between indicators of parental…

College students often live stressful lives, yet some college students appear to adapt better than their peers in similar situations. Active coping appears to be a vital factor that contributes to a successful adaptation. This study explored relative effectiveness among stress, secure attachment, and the trait of resilience in predicting active…

The purpose of this study is to explore the variation in emotional closeness in the adult grandchild and grandparent relationship in relation to the occurrence of potentially stressful life events in childhood. A sample of university students (N = 119) completed a questionnaire measuring elements of intergenerational solidarity. Comparisons were…

African American college students attending predominately White institutions often encounter stressors that their Caucasian peers do not experience. Because of these unique stressors, African American students are more prone to experience psychological distress. Identifying factors that counteract psychological distress among these students is…

The current study examined the mediating role of stress in the linkages between attachment to parents and adjustment to attending higher learning institutions in another country. Self-reports from 114 Malaysian late adolescents studying in Singapore supported the primacy of stress for adjustment; more pertinent, stress mediated all the…

This research, based on attachment theory, examined the relationships between romantic attachment styles, romantic attitudes and well-being among 461 tertiary students, aged 17-21 years. Those with secure romantic attachment styles were less stressed, less lonely and more satisfied academically than those with clingy or casual/fickle styles,…

Examines the factor pattern of parental attachment measures as well as the relationship of the resultant oblique factors to emotional functioning and perceived stress. Results reveal that individuals who reported higher levels of parental attachment reported lower levels of perceived stress and greater confidence in their ability to attend to and…