Parent-Child Attachment and Social Adaptation Behavior in Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of School Bonding

Haowen Yin; Suning Qian; Fengqiu Huang; Huibin Zeng; Casper J P Zhang; Wai-Kit Ming

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711669

Parent-Child Attachment and Social Adaptation Behavior in Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of School Bonding

Front Psychol. 2021 Oct 28:12:711669. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711669. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Haowen Yin^{1

2}, Suning Qian³, Fengqiu Huang⁴, Huibin Zeng⁴, Casper J P Zhang⁵, Wai-Kit Ming^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
² Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lian Yungang, China.
³ School of Foreign Languages, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

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, M_age=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.

Keywords: college students; intermediate role; parent-child attachment; school bonding; social adaptation.