Evaluating the Relationship Between Peer Attachment and Coping Styles Among Adolescents

Adolescence is associated with physical and emotional changes and certain tensions which coping with them necessitates the use of cognitive and behavioral strategies called coping styles. Since adolescence, peer attachment is developed. Secure attachment produces positive outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between adolescents’ peer attachment and their coping styles. This correlational study was conducted in Birjand, Iran, on 302 high school students who had been recruited through stratified random sampling. The 24-item Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and the Lazarus Adolescents Coping Scale (ACS) were used for data gathering. The attachment inventory consists of 24 items in three domains of trust, quality of communication, and extent of anger and alienation. The ACS assesses 18 coping strategies in three coping styles. The items of this scale are scored on a 5-point scale. After entering into the SPSS software (v. 16.0), the data were analyzed by conducting the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the multiple regression analysis, and Tukey post hoc, Pearson correlation coefficient, the independent-samples t test, and the chi-square tests at a significance level of 0.05. In total, 199 male (65.9%) and 103 female (34.1%) students participated in this study whose mean age was 16.55 ± 1.04 years. Female students’ mean score of the emotion-focused and the avoidance coping styles were significantly higher than their male counterparts. Besides, the results of the Tukey post hoc test illustrated that the fourth-year students’ mean score of the anger domain of the attachment inventory was significantly higher than the second-year students (P = 0.01). However, the mean score of peer attachment was not significantly correlated with the educational and the employment status of the participating students’ parents. There was a significant difference between the male and the female students regarding the mean scores of the trust and the communication domains of attachment. Regression analysis also revealed that the domains of peer attachment were significant predictors of the adolescents’ coping styles. Peer attachment predicts coping styles. The mean score of the problem-focused coping style was significantly higher than the other styles. Female students’ mean score of the emotion-based and the avoidance coping styles was significantly higher than the male ones, denoting the great necessity for developing and implementing educational programs. Peers are important sources of emotional support for helping adolescents assess their social environments and establish new relationships. Therefore, parental supervision on adolescents’ peer relationships is essential.