College students\u27 preferences in seeking social support from divorced verses non-divorced parents

The goals of the current study were to (a) determine if differences exist in social support sought by college students from divorced vs. intact families and (b) to determine if the nature of the stressor is also related to students seeking support from either parent. Fifty-five students were recruited from Psychology courses at Rowan University and were given a modified version of the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). They were also given a demographics sheet to complete. A one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and a univariate test revealed significant differences in the SSQ-A/father ratings for participants whose parents were married vs. divorced. A separate MANOVA and univariate test revealed significant differences in the PBIDAD C ratings for participants whose parents were married vs. divorced. These findings suggest that individuals\u27 preferences in seeking support regarding academic issues from their married fathers may be related to their higher level of bonding with their fathers under the care dimension