The influence of parental and peer attachment on college students' academic achievement

This study examined relations among attachment to parents and peers, cognitive ability, psychosocial functioning variables, and academic achievement in a multiethnic sample of college students (n = 357). A small subgroup (14.8%) of students reported low levels of attachment to both parents and peers. Significant positive correlations were documented between parent and peer attachment and several indices of psychosocial competence. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that indices of cognitive ability were significant predictors of college students' grade point averages, while broader measures of functioning in early adulthood (attachment, intellectual ability, self-esteem) were significant predictors of scholastic competence. Results suggest that perceived attachment to both parents and peers is a component of wider patterns of social competence and adjustment that may function as protective or compensatory factors during key transitions in young adulthood, such as participation in college, and with its attendant demands for academic achievement. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.