The relationship between life satisfaction, attachment styles, and psychological resilience in university students

Abstract

The relationship between life satisfaction, attachment styles, and psychological resilience in university students Objective: The main aim of the current research is to investigate the relationship of attachment styles to life satisfaction and psychological resilience of university students. Another aim of the present study is to see whether life satisfaction scores differ by the subjects' level of psychological resilience. Method: The current work is a descriptive study using the relational screaning model. The study sample consisted of 425 university students, 302 of whom (71.1%) were female and the remaining 123 (29.9%) male. Convenience sampling was used in selecting the sample. The sample group was composed of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. Data was collected through Experiences in Close Relationships Scale II (ECRS-II) for attachment styles, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SCLS) for life satisfaction, and the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) for psychological resilience. Results: Research findings concerning attachment styles of university students indicated that 49.4% of the sample displayed an avoidant and 48.9% an anxious attachment pattern. Individuals taking a score below the median in both anxious and avoidant dimensions of attachment, which constituted 31.7% of the study population, were defined as being securely attached. Study findings showed that the anxiety and avoidance sub-dimensions of attachment negatively predicted the total score of satisfaction with life. An increase in anxious and avoidant attachment scores was associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the anxious and avoidant attachment styles did not predict psychological resilience. In addition, satisfaction with life scores of university students varied according to levels of psychological resilience. Individuals who had a high level of psychological resilience were found to have increased satisfaction with life compared to those who had a low level of psychological resilience. Discussion: There are many studies indicating attachment styles to be the main determinant of subjective well-being. Study findings show that secure attachment affects satisfaction with life, which is one of the elements of subjective wellbeing and positive development. It is seen that the ability of university students to adapt to stressful and difficult conditions and to cope with unfavorable situations is associated with their satisfaction with life. Thus, psychotherapeutic interventions focused on improvement of attachment relations and enhancement of psychological resilience may increase the overall satisfaction with life.

Measuring adult romantic attachment: psychometric properties of the brief Spanish version of the experiences in close relationships

“…It is well established that attachment insecurity (i.e., higher attachment anxiety and/or higher attachment avoidance) is associated with poor outcomes for the individual and couple's functioning (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016). More specifically, and in line with our results, attachment insecurity has been associated with higher emotion regulation difficulties (Guzmán-González et al, 2016, b;Han & Kahn, 2017), lower empathy (Lafontaine et al, 2016, b), more mental health problems and psychological distress (Mortazavizadeh & Forstmeier, 2018), lower life satisfaction (Tepeli Temiz & Comert, 2018), and lower relationship satisfaction (Li & Chan, 2012;Feeney, 2016).…”

Estilos parentais e vinculação aos pares fazem a diferença nos motivos do consumo de álcool em jovens universitários?

“…Durante a transição para a universidade, verifica-se que os jovens que apresentam um contexto familiar associado ao estilo parental democrático encontram-se mais preparados emocionalmente e adaptam-se melhor ao contexto académico (Granja & Mota, 2018). O estilo parental democrático e a qualidade da vinculação favorecem o desenvolvimento de relações interpessoais saudáveis e que capacita os jovens a ultrapassar vivências negativas (Evangelista et al, 2018;Temiz & Cömert, 2018). A presença de uma autoestima e de um autoconceito positivos nos jovens são em parte explicados pela vivência dos jovens de contextos familiares pautados por um estilo parental democrático (Gallenos et al, 2022).…”

“…No estudo de Evangelista et al (2018), verificou-se que o consumo de álcool nos estudantes universitários tem vindo a aumentar e a iniciar mais precocemente, predispondo os jovens a envolverem-se em outros comportamentos de risco. Neste caso os fatores de risco podem ser de ordem familiar como a presença de estilos parentais autoritários (Garcia et al, 2020;Kenney et al, 2015) ou permissivos (Reis & Oliveira, 2015), e sociais como a associação a pares com comportamentos desviantes (Ferreira et al, 2022;Yuksek & Solakoglu, 2016), a vinculação insegura com os mesmos (Dotson et al, 2022;McKay, 2015;Temiz & Cömert, 2018), assim como a rejeição do grupo de pares (Brito et al, 2015;Filho & Teixeira, 2011). O estilo parental democrático pautado por um maior envolvimento, suporte, afeto e maior supervisão constitui um dos fatores protetores no que concerne o consumo de álcool (Balsa et al, 2018;Baumrind, 1991;Eiden et al, 2016;Mills et al, 2021;Zhen et al, 2021).…”

Gender Role Perception, Empathic Tendency, and Resilience in Predicting Life Satisfaction among Turkish University Students

“…Resilience, also known as "stress resistant attitude," is defined as the ability to adapt to and cope with stressful and difficult situations (Liu, Reed and Girard 2017;Jenkins 2016). Furthermore, studies state that life satisfaction correlates with many psychological characteristics, and there is an essential relationship between resilience and life satisfaction (Redersstorff, Buchanan and Settles 2007;Tepeli-Temiz and Tari-Cömert 2018).…”