Adult Attachment and Mental Health in Chinese College Students

Objective: To investigate the relationship between attachment patterns and mental health in undergraduates.Methods:676 undergraduates were recruited to complete 3 questionnaires,including the two widely used measurements of adult attachment: Relationship Questionnaire(RQ) and Experience of Close Relationship(ECR) to measure students' attachment style,and Symptom Check Scale List-90(SCL-90) to evaluate their mental health.Results:The distributions of adult attachment measured by RQ were: 41.3% secure,25.6% dismissing,23.3% preoccupied,and 9.8% fearful.Meanwhile,those secure and dismissing attachment students got significant lower scores on all indexes but 'somatization' of SCL-90 than preoccupied and /or fearful attachment students [e.g.,total score of SCL-90:(153.0±45.4)、(158.4±47.8) vs.(173.8±51.2)、(175.1±58.8),P0.001];and secure participants got significant lower score on 'hostility' than preoccupied and fearful students [(1.7±0.6) vs.(1.8±0.6)、(1.9±0.9),P=0.027],Moreover,attachment avoidance was strongly correlated with all indexes but 'hostility' of SCL-90(r=0.14～0.17,P0.01),and attachment anxiety was significantly correlated with all indexes(r=0.24～0.47,P0.01).Conclusion:Adult attachment may be one of the factors on mental health of college students,and mental health level is negatively correlated with attachment avoidance and anxiety(i.e.,secure attachment).