Peer Attachment and Internalizing Problems in Adolescents

Abstract

Peer Attachment is a close relationship between a person and their peers. Adolescents who have suitable attachment to their peers will experience fewer internalizing problems. Internalizing problems is a deepening of a person in dealing with the problems within him excessively. This study aimed to determine the relationship between peer attachment and internalizing problems in adolescents in East Java. This research is a nonexperimental quantitative research with a purposive sampling technique, and the number of samples in this study was 680 people. The criteria for this study were adolescents aged 15–18 years and domiciled in East Java. The scales used are the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results showed a negative relationship between peer attachment and internalizing problems marked by the value of r = –327, P = 0.000, which means that the higher the peer attachment in adolescents, the lower the level of internalizing problems they have. Keywords: adolescence, peer attachment, internalizing problems