Description
The present study aims to gain a deeper understanding of adult attachment, relational maintenance behaviors, and resilience in relation to adolescent friendships and romantic relationships. More specifically, within a population of adolescents who experienced frequent childhood non-routine school displacements. It is obvious that when children leave their current peer group due to these frequent displacements a disruption in the development of childhood relationships will occur, but less is known about the effects the displacements have on later adult relationships. Among the numerous factors that could contribute to how an adult may deal with this type of upbringing, a few specific variables were examined. Participants also must have been in at least one romantic relationship, even if it was no longer an active relationship and be able to report on one friendship. A total of N = 345 participants were surveyed using a cross-sectional questionnaire style survey. First, adult attachment theory was used to understand the effects of non-routine school changes and distance moved. Hypothesis examining non-routine school changes was partially supported and hypothesis two examining distance moved was not supported. Anxiety emerged as significantly correlated with non-routine school changes but not with distance moved. Avoidance was not significantly correlated with non-routine school changes or distance moved. In hypothesis three and four, resiliency was used as a moderating variable between the effect of non-routine school changes and attachment anxiety and avoidance as well as distance moved and attachment anxiety and avoidance. Hypothesis three examining nonroutine school changes was conditionally supported and hypothesis four was not supported. Hypothesis five and six examined the mediating effect of relational maintenance behaviors on attachment anxiety and avoidance and relational satisfaction and friendship validation and caring. Both hypotheses were supported with relational maintenance behaviors partially mediating the relationship between anxiety and relational satisfaction/friendship validation and caring and fully mediated the relationship between avoidance and relational satisfaction/friendship validation and caring. Implications for this study include adding to the relational maintenance literature and furture directions include examining the physiological consequences utilizing a longitudinal study.
