title: The contributions of parental attachment bonds to college student development and adjustment: a meta-analytic review.
abstract: 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 attachment quality and favorable adjustment outcomes (r = .23). Effect sizes were of similar magnitude for mother and father attachment relationships, for male and female students, and across ethnicity and nationality of the sample. The attachment-adjustment relationship varied somewhat according to the developmental task being investigated in the study, showing the strongest association for the task of separation-individuation. Additionally, we found stronger attachment-adjustment links for students residing away from their parents when compared with students living at home during college.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA. jmattanah@towson.edu
authors.forename: Jonathan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mattanah
authors.forename: Frederick G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Govern
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult