Effects of attachment to parents and junior high school students' satisfaction with their relationships with teachers and friends on their adjustment to school

Abstract

The present study investigated how attachment to parents and satisfaction with relationships with teachers and friends influence students' adjustment to junior high school. Junior high school students (7th grade: 74 boys, 66 girls; 8th grade: 61 boys, 74 girls; 9th grade: 81 boys, 87 girls) completed a questionnaire examining their sense of comfort, feelings of acceptance and trust, and absence of feelings of inferiority. The results showed that attachment to parents and satisfaction with relationships with ones' teachers and friends had a positive influence on school adjustment. In addition, school adjustment interacted with attachment to parents and satisfaction with relationships with teachers and friends. Specifically, even students who had grown up without good relationships with their parents reported a positive adjustment to school when their satisfaction with their relationships with their teachers and friends was high. In contrast, good relationships with parents were not found to enhance students' adjustment to school. The students who reported little satisfaction with their relationships with their teachers and friends had poor adjustment to school, regardless of the extent of their attachment to their parents.