Quality and Correlates of Parental Attachment Among Late Adolescents

The value of attachment theory (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) in describing parental relationships of late adolescents (N = 139) in trade and technical school programs was explored. Overall, students described positive attachments to parents, viewing them both as facilitating their autonomy and as being available as a source of emotional support. Male students who were attending schools farther away from their parents' homes described their parental attachments more positively than did students who attended schools closer to their parents' homes. Parental facilitation of autonomy was associated with self-reports of assertion for female students.