The Role of Family Structure and Attachment in College Student Hookups

Abstract

We examined the relationship between family structure and hooking up among emerging adults (N = 881) and the extent to which attachment moderated this relationship. Neither family structure nor number of structure transitions were related to the number of hookup partners in the past 12 months. Having an avoidant attachment, being an underclassman, consuming more alcohol, and not being in an exclusive relationship were related to having a greater number of hookup partners, and avoidant attachment was a stronger indicator of hooking up for men than for women. Among those who had hooked up in the past 12 months (63.8 %), family structure did not significantly differentiate those having a penetrative sex hookup (i.e., oral sex and/or intercourse) versus a non-penetrative sex hookup (i.e., kissing and/or sexual touching only). Findings were discussed in terms of their methodological implications for studying hookups, such as the collection of event level data and examining how family structure influences other correlates of hooking up.

Pathways Linking Childhood Maltreatment and Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviors: The Role of Attachment Security

“…For avoidantly attached individuals, the preference for sexual contacts with strangers is still consistent with their relatively low desire for emotional intimacy. Furthermore, this result has been shown in numerous studies on college students (Garneau et al, 2013;Gentzler & Kerns, 2004;Paul et al, 2000). Our representative research allows those results to be generalized to the adolescent population.…”

“…Our representative research allows those results to be generalized to the adolescent population. As expected, anxious attachment was not associated with casual sexual behavior, as documented by studies on college students (Garneau et al, 2013;Gentzler & Kerns, 2004;Paul et al, 2000). Conversely, anxious attachment would be associated with long-term mating strategies to fulfill needs for love, acceptance, and security (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007).…”

“…As these studies use relatively comparable samples, the mixed results may arise from the failure to consider gender differences. There is more agreement among studies showing that avoidantly attached individuals engage in more casual sexual behaviors (Garneau et al, 2013;Gentzler & Kerns, 2004;Paul, McManus, & Hayes, 2000) and have a greater number of sexual partners (Lemelin et al, 2014;Szielasko, Symons, & Price, 2013). Costa and Brody (2011) did not find that avoidant or anxious attachment was associated with number of sexual partners.…”

“…Anxious attachment is not associated with the number of sexual partners in Lemelin, Lussier, Sabourin, Brassard, and Naud (2014), while Gentzler and Kerns (2004) found that anxious attachment is associated with fewer sexual partners for boys but not for girls. Furthermore, studies of college students have concluded that no relationship exists between anxious attachment and a greater number of casual sexual behaviors (Garneau, Olmstead, Pasley, & Fincham, 2013;Gentzler & Kerns, 2004).…”

“…Then, we hypothesized that all four forms of CM would be associated with anxious attachment, which in turn would lead to a younger age at first intercourse for girls (hypothesis 3). We also hypothesized that all four forms of CM would be associated with avoidant attachment, which in turn would lead to casual sexual behavior (hypothesis 4) (Garneau et al, 2013).…”