Parent, peer, and god attachment and loneliness among emerging adults
Abstract
The current investigation explored how parent attachment, peer attachment, and God attachment are related to loneliness for emerging adults. A review of previous studies indicated relatively higher rates of loneliness for young adults. One potential explanation is that emerging adulthood is a unique developmental period when individuals are in different stages of transferring attachment from parents to peers. Religion and spirituality also have been studied within an attachment framework and have been identified as possible sources of support. A Qualtrics online sample panel was used to recruit 200 participants who completed a self-report measure. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 25. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of parent, peer, and God attachment to loneliness and loneliness subtypes (social and emotional) after controlling for relationship status. Results revealed that relationship status, parent attachment, and peer attachment were all significant predictors of general, social, and emotional loneliness, and God attachment was a significant predictor of emotional loneliness. The relative contributions of the predictor variables and implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Subject Area
Counseling Psychology|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Sherri Ann, "Parent, peer, and god attachment and loneliness among emerging adults" (2016). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10112516.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10112516
