Abstract
Family and school are two main places for adolescents to develop socialization, which can be contributed by good parent-child attachment and school bonding. Earlier studies suggested that parent-child attachment played an important role in promoting the formation of high-level school bonding, which is also likely to influence social adaptation. This study aimed to explore the relationship between parent-child attachment and social adaptation, and the mediating role of school bonding. Using stratified cluster sampling, 1,440 college students were first randomly selected from four universities and then stratified by specialty with a balance between genders and grades. Participants voluntarily participated in this study and completed questionnaires including the Parent-Child Attachment Scale, School Bonding Scale, and Social Adaptation Scale. Finally, a total of 1,320 college students were included in the analysis (59.5% female; aged 18–24years, Mage=20.39±1.52years). Data analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 23.0. The results indicated that the overall level of parent-child attachment in females (M=75.72, SD=12.36) was significantly higher than that of males (M=73.71, SD=12.68; F=8.22, p<0.01). Difference was also found between sibling status (F=13.90, p<0.001), and the only-child (M=76.16, SD=12.72) scored significantly higher than their counterparts (non-only children, M=73.60, SD=12.19). Parent-child attachment was positively correlated with social adaptation (p<0.01) and school bonding (p<0.01), while school bonding was also positively correlated with social adaptation score (p<0.01). School bonding played a partial intermediate role in the relationship between parent-child attachment and social adaptation (β=0.15). Our research identified a direct influence of parent-child attachment and an indirect influence via school bonding on social adaptation among college students.
Highlights
Social adaptation is a process in which individuals actively regulate their behaviors to achieve a state of balance and coordination with their external environment (Kahle, 1984; Mahoney and Bergman, 2002)
We aimed to examine the direct relationship between school bonding and social adaptation
We examined whether school bonding could serve as a mechanism to elucidate the indirect relationship between parent-child attachment and social adjustment among college students
Summary
Social adaptation is a process in which individuals actively regulate their behaviors to achieve a state of balance and coordination with their external environment (Kahle, 1984; Mahoney and Bergman, 2002). The criteria for evaluating an individual’s social adaptation usually include two aspects: the individual’s internal state of psychological harmony and the other is the individual’s external behavioral performance. The former is mostly measured by depression, anxiety, withdrawal, self-esteem, autonomy, psychological well-being, optimism, and responsibility, which can be collectively referred to as implicit adaptation; the latter is mostly measured by aggressive behavior, substance abuse, hyperactivity, pro-social tendency, acting efficiency, active coping, and other behaviors, which can be collectively referred to as explicit adaptation (Nie et al, 2008). A good social adaptation is a comprehensive reflection of a high level of positive adaptation and a low level of negative adaptation (Zou et al, 2012)
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