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ATTACHMENT,STRESS,ANDCOPINGINCOLLEGESTUDENTS BY MARTHAALLISONKEMP ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 1999 Iwouldliketodedicatethisworktomyhusband, WilliamGreenhood, whoseunwaveringsupporthasmadeitpossible. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Intheprocessofpreparingthisdissertation,Ihavebenefitedfromthe interest,guidance,andactiveassistanceofmanypeople,andIwouldliketo takethisopportunitytothankthem. Iwouldliketothankthechairmanofmysupervisorycommittee,Dr. GregNeimeyer,forhispatientassistanceinfocusingabroadinterestintoa feasibleresearchprojectandforhissupportandguidanceateachstepofthe process. Throughoutthissometimesfrustratingtask,hisoptimismand confidenceinmehavehelpedmepersevereinwhathas,intheend,beena veryvaluablelearningexperience. Iwouldliketoexpressmyappreciationtoothermembersofmy supervisorycommittee. Allhaveservedpatientlyoveraconsiderableperiod oftime,andeachhascontributedavaluedperspective. Dr.Jacquelin Goldmanfirstintroducedmetoresearchinmother-infantattachmentand hasbeenapositiveinfluenceonmyprofessionaldevelopmentovermany years. Iappreciatethesupportandthoughtfulandthought-provoking suggestionsmadebyDr.JaquieResnick. IamthankfultoDr.Patricia Millerforhersupportandaccessibilityandforbeingaresourceintheareaof developmentalpsychology. Dr.NormanMarkelhasconsistentlyofferedhis iii help,goodhumor,andinterestandhasbeeneverreadytosharehis extensiveknowledgeofresearchininterpersonalprocess. IwouldalsoliketoexpressmyappreciationtoDr.HarryGrater. He fosteredmyinterestininterpersonalapproachestopsychotherapyand standsasaninspiringexampleoftheeffectiveuseofthatapproach. Incarryingoutthisresearchproject,Ihadtheassistanceofseveral excellentpsychologystudents. HeatherKruegerandTracySmithassistedin thedatacollectionphase. CherylLyngandSuzannahPalinkasreadand analyzedthestressnarratives. Itwasapleasureformetoworkwiththese students,andthestudycouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutthem. Inthedataanalysisphase,Iwasabletoconsultwithanumberof peoplewhoseexpertisefacilitatedmycompletionofthattaskand understandingoftheresults. ThesepeopleincludedDr.MartinHeesacker, Dr.WilsonGuertin,CynthiaFindley-Klein,andKurtBoniecki. Forherexperthelpinpreparationofthemanuscript,Iamgratefulto M.J.Schaer. Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyhusband,BillGreenhood,andmy son,NicholasGreenhood,fortheirpatience,theirconfidenceinme,andfor makingthemanyaccommodationsthatenabledmetocompletethis dissertation. IV TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 AnOverviewofAttachment 2 AttachmentStyleandResponsestoStress 6 Overview 8 2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 10 AttachmentBackground 10 AssessingAdultAttachment 18 AttachmentStyleandtheStressBufferingHypothesis: TheoryandResearch 30 SummaryandHypotheses 40 3 METHODOLOGY 43 Participants 43 Procedure 47 Measures 48 Predictions 54 4 RESULTS 56 MultivariateAnalysisofVariance(MANOVA) 56 AnalysesofVariance(ANOVAS) 57 PostHocAnalyses 67 v 5 DISCUSSION 77 AttachmentStyle 77 GenderDifferences 87 InteractionEffects 88 RelationsofDependentVariables 88 Summary 89 Conclusion 92 APPENDICES 94 A RELATIONSHIPQUESTIONNAIRE 94 B INFORMEDCONSENT 95 C NARRATIVERATINGS 96 D IMPACTOFEVENTSCALE 98 E BRIEFSYMPTOMINVENTORY 99 REFERENCES 100 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 108 vx LISTOFTABLES 3- T4-able page 3-1 PrescreeningAttachmentClassification 45 2 NumberofParticipantsinEachGenderXAttachmentCell 46 1 MeansforImpactofEventScale(IES) 57 4-2 MeansforWaysofCoping(WOC) 60 4-3 MeansforBriefSymptomInventory(BSI) 62 4-4 IntercorrelationsBetweenSubscalesoftheWaysofCoping (WOC) 68 4-5 IntercorrelationsBetweenSubscalesoftheBriefSymptom Inventory(BSI) 70 4-6 CorrelationsBetweenSubscalesoftheImpactofEvents(IES)and SubscalesoftheWOCandtheBSI 71 4-7 CorrelationsBetweenSubscalesoftheWaysofCoping(WOC) andtheBriefSymptomInventory(BSI) 72 vii AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy ATTACHMENT,STRESS,ANDCOPINGINCOLLEGESTUDENTS By MarthaAllisonKemp December1999 Chairman: GregJ.Neimeyer MajorDepartment: Psychology Thisstudyexploredtherelationshipbetweenadultattachmentstyleandresponses toself-reportedstresseventsincollegestudents. Thestudywasdesignedtotest hypothesesaboutthebufferingeffectsofsecureattachmentandspecificaffectregulation strategiesusedbypeoplewiththepreoccupied,fearful,anddismissingattachmentstyles. Introductorypsychologystudents(N=l157)wereprescreenedusingtheBartholomewand Horowitzfour-categoryself-reportmeasureofadultattachment. Scoresonthismeasure wereusedtoselect193participants(101women,and92men)inthefourattachment categories. Participantswroteanarrativeaccountofarecentstressfulexperienceand completedtheImpactofEventScale(IES)andtheWaysofCoping(Revised)(WOC)in relationtothestressevent. Participantsalsodescribedcurrentlevelsofpsychiatric symptomsontheBriefSymptomInventory(BSI). Resultsgenerallysupported hypothesesaboutthebufferingeffectsofsecureattachmentwithrespecttosignificantly viii BriefSymptomInventory(BSI). Resultsgenerallysupportedhypotheses aboutthebufferingeffectsofsecureattachmentwithrespecttosignificantly lowerlevelsofdistressontheIESintrusionscaleandtheBSIGlobal SeverityIndex(GSI)butnotinrelationtoincreasedsocialsupportseeking ontheWOC. Ashypothesized,thepreoccupiedattachmentgroupreported increaseddistress,asevidencedbysignificantlyhighermeanscoresonthe IESintrusionscaleandtheGSIoftheBSIaswellaselevatedlevelsof escapeavoidanceresponsesontheWOC. Aspredicted,thefearful attachmentgrouphadelevatedscoresontheDepressionscaleoftheBSI (significantlyhigherthanthesecureanddismissinggroups,althoughnot differentfromthepreoccupiedgroup). Resultsfailedtosupportpredictions thatthedismissinggroupwouldhaveelevatedscoresonscalesofavoidance (IES),distancing(WOC),orHostilityandSomatization(BSI). Therelation betweenattachmentstyleandmeasuresofdistressandcopingwasthesame withineachgender,butfor9ofthe20measures,therewasasignificant gendereffect,withwomenscoringhigherthanmenineachcase. Recommendationsforfutureresearchincludedtheuseofalternativestoself- reporttoincreaseinternalvalidity,particularlywithregardtotesting hypothesesaboutthedismissingattachmentgroup. Resultsarediscussedas supportingtheutilityofattachmenttheoryinconceptualizingmentalhealth issues,andplanninginterventions. IX CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Emotionalwell-beinghasoftenbeenthoughttobetiedtothequalityof aperson’scloserelationships. Oneaspectofcloserelationshipsis attachment,whichisunderstoodasthedispositiontoseekproximityto particularothersforsecurityandprotectionintimesofstress. Withinthe lastdecade,attachmenttheoryhasbeenwidelyemployedasatoolto understandkeyaspectsofcloserelationshipsandtheireffectson socioemotionalfunctioningthroughoutthelifespan. Developmental,clinical, andsocialpsychologistshaveutilizedattachmenttheorytodirectstudiesina rangeofareasextendingfarbeyondtheoriginalresearchbasewhichfocused onthemother-infantrelationship. Thisnewwaveofresearchwasushered inbythedevelopmentofmethodsforassessingattachmentbeyondinfancy. Suchmethodshaveenabledresearcherstoinvestigatehowpatternsof attachmentcaninfluenceinterpersonalandintrapersonalbehaviorsin peopleofallages: fromchildren'srelationshipswithpeersinpreschoolto satisfactionwithromanticrelationshipsinadulthoodtodealingwiththe stressesofaging. Thepresentstudyexaminedhowattachmentstylemay influencepsychologicalfunctioningincollegestudents. Specifically,this researchtestedwhetherattachmentstylewasrelatedtocopingresponsesto everydaystressors,andtosymptomaticpsychologicaldistress. Abriefsurvey 1