Kenneth G. Rice

Attachment to Parents and Adjustment in Late Adolescent College Students Current Status, Applications, and Future Considerations

The attachment model holds considerable promise for understanding the challenges and adjustment vicissitudes of late adolescent college students. The model is potentially valuable for counseling psychologists, further more, in linking knowledge of developmental theory with counseling intervention and prevention. Existing research supports an association between secure parental attachment and adjustment for first-year college students. A variety of methodological challenges, however, need to be addressed in order to fully assess the validity of attachment-based developmental and intervention models, especially for women and culturally and racially diverse college students.

Attachment in adolescence: A narrative and meta-analytic review

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature that has examined adolescent attachment relations with parents, and any association between attachment and adolescent development or adjustment. The paper begins with a review of traditional attachment theory and concepts. The organizational perspective advanced by Sroufe and his colleagues is described in addition to other extensions of the study of attachment. The study of adolescent attachment is one extension of the attachment literature that has received increasing attention in recent years. A narrative review of studies of adolescent attachment is presented in which conceptualizations of adolescent attachment, methodologies, and results are described. The narrative review is followed by a metaanalytic review of this literature. The paper concludes by discussing the results of the reviews, the current state of adolescent attachment research, and some recommendations for further advancing the empirical and theoretical literature on adolescent attachment and adaptation.

An Efficient Method for Classifying Perfectionists.

Multiple samples of university students (N = 1,537) completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; R. B. Slaney, M. Mobley, J. Trippi, J. Ashby, & D. G. Johnson, 1996). Cluster analyses, cross-validated discriminant function analyses, and receiver operating characteristic curves for sensitivity and specificity of APS-R scores were used to derive efficient and straightforward calculations and decision rules for classifying students as perfectionists (and as either adaptive or maladaptive). Convergent validity of the cutoff scores for group membership was supported by expected group differences on other measures of perfectionism. Criterion-related (concurrent) validity of the classification scheme was supported by comparison of groups on measures of depression, life satisfaction, and grade point average. The cutoffs and decision rules should prove useful in applied or future research situations in which differentiation of perfectionists and nonperfectionists is desired.

Self-Criticism, Dependency, Self-Esteem, and Grade Point Average Satisfaction Among Clusters of Perfectionists and Nonperfectionists.

Cluster analyses using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; R. B. Slaney, M. Mobley, J. Trippi, J. Ashby, & D. G. Johnson, 1996) yielded 3 clusters that represented adaptive perfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, and nonperfectionists. Maladaptive perfectionist scores were strongly correlated with self-critical depression, but not dependent depression. Adaptive perfectionist scores were correlated with higher self-esteem and greater satisfaction with grade point average (GPA). It was hypothesized that satisfaction with GPA would moderate the relationship between cluster membership and GPA, and that participant gender would moderate the relationship between cluster membership and self-esteem. Neither hypothesis was supported. A comparison of the cluster groups from this sample with those in 2 previous samples (K. G. Rice & R. B. Slaney, 2002) indicated similar scores between clusters. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Attachment to parents, social competence, and emotional well-being : A comparison of Black and White late adolescents

The model tested in this study proposed that the association of parental attachment bonds to emotional adjustment would be mediated by social competence. Relational variables were expected to be more important in the development of social competence and emotional adjustment for Black students than for White students; there were no directional hypotheses for gender differences. Single-group analyses and multiple-group comparisons revealed that the model fit the data reasonably well for a large sample (N = 630) of Black and White late adolescents. Gender of parent differences emerged, in which attachment to father generally was a more important predictor of social competence than was attachment to mother. In all analyses, social competence was a significant predictor of emotional adjustment. There were no significant differences between groups in comparisons of the relative strengths of construct interrelations.

Separation-Individuation, Family Cohesion, and Adjustment to College: Measurement Validation and Test of a Theoretical Model.

We examined the relation between adolescent separation-individuation, family cohesion, and college adjustment. A large sample of college students was split into two groups. One group was used to determine whether several measures of separation-individuation were measuring different dimensions of individuation. Two related factors, labeled Positive Separation Feelings and Independence From Parents, emerged from an exploratory factor analysis of the measures. A theoretical model, derived from psychodynamic and family systems perspectives of separationindividuation, was tested on the second group of subjects. The model specified that college adjustment would be predicted by family cohesion, positive separation feelings, and independence from parents. The results indicated that the Positive Separation Feelings factor was a better predictor of college adjustment than Independence From Parents or Family Cohesion.

Perfectionism and ethnicity: implications for depressive symptoms and self-reported academic achievement.

Ethnic differences in perfectionism were examined among Asian American, African American, and Caucasian American college students. Analyses revealed that Asian American students scored significantly higher than the other groups on 3 of 6 perfectionism subscales. Minority students reported significantly higher parental expectations than Caucasian students. Significant correlations emerged for all 3 groups between depressive symptoms and concerns about making mistakes, perceived criticism from parents, and self-doubt. In regression analyses, perfectionism explained significant variance in depressive symptoms for Asian Americans and Caucasians and explained significant variance in cumulative grade point average for Asian Americans and African Americans. Self-doubt emerged as a robust individual predictor in these analyses.

Preliminary Development and Validation of a Measure of Relationship Authenticity.

The authors describe the preliminary development and validation of the Authenticity in Relationships Scale. An initial pool of 37 items addressing various elements of the proposed definition of “relationship authenticity” was administered to 2 independent samples of undergraduates (N 487) who acknowledged being in a current romantic relationship. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that 2 interpretable factors (Unacceptability of Deception, Intimate Risk Taking) effectively represented the data in both samples. Retest data over a 3-month interval were also gathered from a separate independent sample of 121 participants. Subscale scores composed of factor-unique items demonstrated good reliability and test–retest stability, correlated in expected directions with scores on several measures used to establish construct validity, and made unique contributions to the prediction of relationship satisfaction after gender, self-esteem, commitment level, and adult attachment orientations were controlled.

Perfectionism, Stress, and Social (Dis)Connection: A Short-Term Study of Hopelessness, Depression, and Academic Adjustment among Honors Students.

This study tested models of perfectionism predicting psychological distress and academic adjustment and moderators and mediators of those associations in 2 successive cohorts of high-achieving university honors students (N = 499). Participants completed measures early and late in the semester. Adaptive (high standards) and maladaptive (self-critical perceptions of inadequacy in meeting performance expectations) dimensions of perfectionism were found to be significantly associated, in generally expected directions, with concurrent and prospective perceived stress, social connectedness, depression, hopelessness, and perceived academic adjustment. However, some perfectionism effects were reduced when earlier psychological distress and adjustment were controlled in analyses predicting later distress and adjustment. Several effects were moderated and at least partially mediated by perceived stress and social connection. The results suggest several counseling implications for high-achieving, perfectionistic students.

Cultural Validity of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised for African American College Students.

This study investigated the cross-cultural construct validity of perfectionism using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; R. B. Slaney, M. Mobley, J. Trippi, J. S. Ashby, & D. G. Johnson, 1996) with 251 African American college students. A LISREL confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) offered support for the 3 subscales of the APS-R: High Standards, Order, and Discrepancy. Multigroup CFA results for a sample of 314 White college students supported factorial equivalence across the 2 cultural groups. Correlations between the subscales of the APS-R and measures of self-esteem, self-reported grade point average (GPA), satisfaction with GPA, trait anxiety, and depression were consistent with the results of previous research. A cluster analysis was performed on the APS-R; the cluster results were similar to those found in previous studies. Finally, the limitations of the present study and the implications for future research with African Americans are discussed.