Relationships between adolescents' attachment styles and family functioning

This study examined the relationship between university students' perceptions of their familial attachment and the manner in which their families cope with life's difficulties. It was hypothesized that individuals with high levels of secure attachment would perceive their families as using more active coping strategies (e.g., mobilizing the family to deal with a problem and making efforts to acquire social support). The results supported this hypothesis. Further, individuals with high levels of anxious/ambivalent attachment perceived their families as using a passive appraisal coping strategy, possibly because of a desire to avoid confrontation for fear of disturbing family accord. The findings are discussed in terms of individuals' dispositional coping styles formed as a function of type of familial attachment, as well as situational factors that might serve to mitigate the use of their basic coping strategies.