Relationship of parental and peer attachments and romantic connections with self-injurious behaviors among college students

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between and among parent-adolescent attachments (trust, communication, alienation), peer attachments (trust, communication, alienation), and mutuality in romantic/dating connections with overt and indirect self-injury. Participants for the study included 494 undergraduate students at a southwestern university who completed a packet of questionnaires that included: the Self-Injury Questionnaire, the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and the Mutual Psychological Development Questionnaire.

Findings and Conclusions: Results indicated that trust and communication in college students' relationships with their mothers, fathers, and peers was significantly and negatively correlated with the frequency of both overt and indirect self-injury. Alienation in these relationships was positively correlated. Mutuality was also negatively correlated with both overt and indirect self-injury. Attachments to parents and peers as well as mutuality in the romantic/dating relationship were significant predictors of overt and indirect self-injury; however, when variables were blocked using hierarchical regressions, father and peer were significant predictors of overt self-injury while peer attachments and mutuality in the romantic/dating relationship were significant predictors of indirect self-injury.