Stability and Change in Adult Attachment Style over the First-Year College Transition: Relations to Self-Confidence, Coping, and Distress Patterns

This study explored whether patterns of stability or change in adult attachment styles were associated with corresponding changes in self-confidence, problem coping styles, and distress. Two hundred seven students completed measures of the key variables near the start and toward the end of their freshman year. Participants were classified into change groups on the basis of their successive scores on a measure of adult attachment style. Results indicated that (a) change group had significant main effects on self-confidence ratings and problem coping styles, and (b) time and change group had significant main and interaction effects on the set of distress measures. Implications of the findings for an attachment theory-informed perspective on the transitional adjustment of entering freshmen are discussed.