Parent and/or Peer Attachment? Predicting Emerging Adults’ Prosocial Behaviors and Internalizing Symptomatology

Abstract

Despite the extant literature, our understanding of the relative influence of attachment figures on multiple indices of socioemotional outcomes, especially during emerging adulthood, has been incomplete. The goal of the present study was to explicate the direct and indirect relations among maternal attachment, paternal attachment, peer attachment, internalizing symptomatology, and prosocial behaviors in a sample of emerging adults. Measures of maternal and paternal attachment, peer attachment, internalizing symptomatology (depression, anxiety, and stress) and multidimensional prosocial behaviors (altruistic, anonymous, dire, emotional, compliant, and dire) were administered to 189 college students (49% female; Mage = 18.82 years; 70% White). Maternal attachment was directly related to peer attachment and internalizing symptomatology. Peer attachment mediated the relations between maternal attachment and all outcomes except for public and anonymous prosocial behaviors. Paternal attachment failed to predict any outcomes when considered in the same model as maternal attachment. Further, emerging adult gender did not moderate any paths in the model. Taken together, the current findings underscore the continued importance of parent and peer attachment on mental health and socioemotional competencies during the transition into adulthood.