Parental attachment, separation-individuation and emotional adjustment among Filipino first-year college students

The main objective of this study is to examine how parental attachment and separation-individuation relate to the emotional adjustment of Filipino first-year college students. A total of 112 college freshmen (60 female and 52 male, respectively), with ages ranging from 15 to 20, participated in this study. The respondents are currently enrolled in three universities: one private university in Manila, one public university in Quezon City and one private university outside of Manila. The research instrument used in data gathering was a set of self-administered questionnaire divided into four parts, namely: (a) Personal Information Questionnaire (PIQ) (b) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) (c) Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI) and (d) Personal-Emotional Adjustment (PEA) subscale of Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SASQ). One significant finding of the study has been that male and female Filipino college first-year students differ in their degree of independence, except for conflictual independence. In general, male freshmen students showed more independence than female freshmen students. The study indicated that parent- child attachment as an integral part, embedded in Filipino adolescent-parent relationship. The study found that: (a). Successful management of emotion response to separation is a key factor when confronted with the adaptive challenge of the college environment. (b). Adolescent males benefit from secure relations with the fathers for females, it is crucial to develop independence from their relationship with the mothers. (c).Filipino adolescent relationship with same sex parent (i.e. father and son mother and daughter) play an indispensable role on their personal-emotional development