On the relationship between parents' attachment styles and students' social, behavioral, and emotional adjustments in non-local freshmen university students

Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between father and mother attachment styles with social competence and social emotional adjustment in samples of non-local freshmen university students in Tabriz University, western part of Iran. 
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, subjects were chosen among the freshmen students of Tabriz University. Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Inventory (RAAI) and Inventory Competence Questionnaire- Revised (ICQ-R) were filled out by 182 students (91 men and 91 women). The collected data were analyzed using multiple-regression.
Results: The results show that there is a positive meaningful relationship between parents' positive attachment styles (trust and communication) and socio-emotional adjustment (P<0/001). However, there is a negative significant relationship between parents' negative attachment styles (emotional alienation) and social-emotional adjustment. Also, positive meaningful relationship between parents' positive attachments styles with students' social competence were found (P<0/001). Based on results of this research, we found that among predictive variables, mother's emotional alienation and father's trust are best indicators for changes related to students' socio-emotional adjustment (P<0/001). Furthermore, component of mother's trust only can be explained 11 percents of variation of social competence (P<0/001).
Conclusion: Parental attachment styles play an important role in different adjustment domains (social, behavioral and emotional) and social competence in university students.