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Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2001

Identity Development and Attachment to Parents

in College Students
Jessica Samuolis,1 Kiera Layburn,2 and Kathleen M. Schiaffino3
Received July 10, 2000; accepted January 24, 2001

Previous research reveals the need to study adolescents’ levels of exploration and
commitment instead of overall identity categories for the purpose of identifying de-
velopmental trends in identity development. Similarly, attachment research points
to the importance of considering separate measures of attachment to mother and
attachment to father, as well as considering gender differences in attachment to
parents. We tested the hypothesis regarding the relative levels of the identity-related
constructs of commitment and exploration in relationship to adolescent males’ and
females’ attachment to parents. The self-report data from 100 first-year college
students suggests that females had significantly higher levels of exploration and
commitment than the male subjects. Females’ identity development was related to
attachment relationships to parents, especially attachment to mother, while males’
identity development was unrelated to attachment to either parent. These find-
ings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of university
student services.

INTRODUCTION

The transition to college is the first time away from home for many adoles-
cents (Balk, 1995). With this major life change, adolescents face the challenges
of establishing a sense of identity and renegotiating relationships with caregivers.
1 Fordham University, Bronx, New York. Received an MA in Applied Developmental Psychology at
Fordham University. Current interests are normative adolescent development and adolescent devel-
opmental psychopathology. To whom correspondence should be addressed at samuolis@fordham.
edu.
2 Fordham University, Bronx, New York. Received an MA in Applied Developmental Psychopathology
at Fordham University. Current interests are adolescent identity development and parental influences
on child development.
3 Associate Professor, Fordham University, Bronx, New York. Received PhD from CUNY/Graduate
Center. Major interests include self-help interventions with health, cognitive appraisals of chronic
illness in children and adults, and changes in identity as a result of chronic illness.

373

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374 Samuolis, Layburn, and Schiaffino

Originally, it was believed that adolescent identity formation was based on suc-
cessful individuation and detachment from caregivers (Erikson, 1968). In fact,
an adolescent’s ability to negotiate the separation and individuation from care-
givers has traditionally been considered a key developmental milestone in identity
formation (Erikson, 1968). More recently, however, attention has been given to
the role of attachment relationships with caregivers as adaptive in adolescence
(Gilligan, 1982; Grotevant and Cooper, 1985; Josselson, 1988) and influential in
identity development. With identity formation being considered as less a result of
individuation and more so influenced by attachment relationships with caregivers,
researchers have turned to attachment theory as a lens through which to understand
adolescent identity development.
Adolescent identity has typically been conceptualized using Marcia’s
(Marcia, 1966) four identity statuses: identity achievement, identity diffusion,
identity moratorium, and identity foreclosure. According to Marcia (1966), iden-
tity achievement results after serious exploration of options and alternatives in
the areas of politics, religion, occupation, and gender roles, resulting in choices
to which the adolescent has committed. Adolescents categorized at identity dif-
fusion have made no commitments in the identity-related domains and show no
movement toward commitment. The moratorium status is characterized by efforts
to form commitments through a crisis of active exploration. Foreclosure results
after commitments are made despite the absence of any exploration in the identity-
related domains. According to Marcia (1966), theoretically as adolescents become
older they typically progress from identity diffusion to identity foreclosure to iden-
tity moratorium and finally to identity achievement based on changes in the levels
of exploration and commitment in identity-related areas.
The identity formation process shares certain basic tenets with traditional
attachment theory. In general, the two paradigms both indicate that security, ex-
ploration, and development are influenced by relationships with parents and that
behavior is guided by constructions of perceptions of self and the environment
(Benson et al., 1992). As Benson et al. (1992) further explain, attachment theory
highlights the importance of the secure base provided by the caregiver as facilitat-
ing exploration (Ainsworth, 1982) and identity theorists hypothesize that security
is also necessary for establishing an identity (Marcia, 1983). Benson et al. (1992)
also indicate that according to Bowlby (1980), secure attachment leads to mental
health, and the idea that identity is assisted by security (Marcia, 1966, 1980) sug-
gests that secure attachments should facilitate identity development and prevent
identity diffusion.
The interrelationship between identity development and attachment theory
has led to a renewed interest in understanding the role of early attachment in later
developmental periods. According to attachment theory, the enduring affectional
bond between the child and parent provides the child with both a safe haven in
times of stress as well as a secure base from which to explore and engage in
nonattachment behaviors (Ainsworth, 1982). Based on perceptions of availability
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Identity Development and Attachment 375

and responsiveness of the caregiver the child develops an internal working model
of self and others (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Internal working models are believed to
contribute to adaptive and maladaptive developmental pathways, thus early at-
tachment relationships, and working models, both influence and are influenced by
later development (Bowlby, 1980) and can be applied to understanding adolescent
development. For the adolescent, a secure internal working model may make the
adolescent less vulnerable to situational stressors and may contribute to psycho-
logical resilience (Bowlby, 1980), whereas an adolescent with a negative internal
working model may make the adolescent more vulnerable to psychological dis-
tress and contribute to psychological risk (Bowlby, 1980). Moreover, adolescents’
working models of attachment are thought to influence expectations and behaviors
in other interpersonal relationships (Bowlby, 1988).
Most research in the area of adolescent attachment relationships has examined
the influence of secure parent–adolescent attachment on developmental outcomes
in adolescents. Secure attachment relationships are associated with life satisfac-
tion, likelihood of seeking social support from peers, psychological well-being
(Armsden and Greenberg, 1987), and ego-resilience (Kobak and Sceery, 1988).
The parent–adolescent relationship has been found to be an influential factor in ado-
lescents’ support-seeking and active problem-solving coping styles (Greenberger
and McLaughlin, 1998) in addition to early adolescents’ self-esteem (Harvey and
Byrd, 1998). Academic and emotional adjustment in college are also associated
with secure parent–adolescent attachment relationships (Lapsley et al., 1990; Rice
et al., 1995).
Researchers have also explored gender differences in parent–adolescent at-
tachment relationships. Although less is known in terms of gender differences,
evidence suggests that college men and women are effected differently by attach-
ment relationships to parents. Schultheiss and Blustein (1994) indicated that it was
more important for women than men to share emotional closeness, similarity in
beliefs and attitudes, and relatedness to both parents. These authors found that
females who were both attitudinally and emotionally dependent on both parents
were more likely to experience academic autonomy and purpose, whereas for men
attachment to parents was unrelated to college student development (Schultheiss
and Blustein, 1994b). Attachment to mother and father was also found to be more
relevant for women than men in the areas of academic, interpersonal, and emo-
tional well-being (Rice and Whaley, 1994). However, Rice and Whaley (1994) also
reported that sons’ attachment to their fathers was an important predictor of adjust-
ment only during a period of high distress in college. Berman and Sperling (1991)
reported a higher level of maternal attachment for women as well as a significant
relationship between later depressed mood and amount of continued attachment in
men. Lastly, for women, Greenberger and McLaughlin (1998) found a tendency to
use a self-enhancing attributional style was significantly related to attachment to
parents. For men, security of attachment to fathers was significantly related to their
willingness to seek out others for support (Greenberger and McLaughlin, 1998).
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376 Samuolis, Layburn, and Schiaffino

Although further research is needed on gender differences in levels of attach-

ment, indications that attachment to parents is more important for women does
support theoretical approaches to feminine psychosocial development. Gilligan
(1982) indicated that females’ psychosocial development involves attachment and
connectedness in contrast to the male theme of separation and suggested that
females’ concern for relationships was partly due to socialization and different
maternal experiences. Although research suggests that the quality and amount of
attachment is more important for females during adolescence, males may also have
particular attachment needs. Holmbeck and Wandrei (1993) indicated that malad-
justment may result when levels of independence and connectedness are extreme
for males and females.
The extent to which adolescent men’s and women’s different attachment re-
lationships with mother and father influence identity development is not entirely
conclusive. Schultheiss and Blustein (1994) reported that for women parental at-
tachment may play a more important role in the identity formation process than for
men. In contrast, Quintana and Lapsley (1990) found that attachment variables and
differentiation variables were positively related for both women and men and that
it was adjustment on individuation indices that predicted advanced identity devel-
opment. Lapsley et al. (1990) also reported similarities between men and women
attachment–identity processes. Both men and women’s attachment to parents and
to peers mediates personal identity, and parental attachment variables significantly
predict social identity (Lapsley et al., 1990). Both males and females’ attachment
to their mothers was significantly higher than attachment to their fathers (Benson
et al., 1992). Yet, in regard to the relationship between attachment and identity
development, an examination of gender by mother attachment and gender by father
attachment failed to show any significant differences between males and females
(Benson et al., 1992). In light of the mixed results more studies are needed to look
at women and men’s attachment relationship with each parent as they pertain to
identity development.
Whether adolescent–parent attachment relationships differentially affect men
and women’s exploration and commitment processes in identity formation has also
received some attention. Research exploring gender differences in identity-related
domains have suggested that women’s attachment relationships with parents in-
fluence commitment and exploration processes involved in identity formation.
Fullwinder-Bush and Jacobvitz (1993) found that women from families charac-
terized by closeness and encouragement toward autonomy showed high levels of
exploration in some identity domains, and that some women still tended to commit
prematurely to particular identity areas without considering alternatives. Women
who reported close relationships with their mothers characterized by boundary
dissolution engaged in less identity exploration in the areas of dating and relation-
ships (Fullwinder-Bush and Jacobvitz, 1993). Similarly these authors found that
overly close father–daughter relationships correlated with lower exploration in the
area of career.
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Identity Development and Attachment 377

Researchers have attempted to identify associations between attachment rela-

tionships and overall identity category statuses. One study found women’s attach-
ment to both parents to be a significant predictor of ego identity status (Schultheiss
and Blustein, 1994). These authors reported that for some women attachment to
mother and father was associated with foreclosure status, suggesting that close-
ness to parents may lead to premature commitment. Other studies suggest that
attachment relationships are beneficial for identity development status. Attach-
ment to mother predicted higher levels of identity achievement for both men and
women and lower levels of identity moratorium and identity diffusion (Benson
et al., 1992). For both men and women attachment to father predicted higher lev-
els of identity foreclosure. Females were found to be higher than males on identity
achievement and lower than males on identity diffusion (Benson et al., 1992). Par-
ticular developmental trends in exploration and commitment processes in overall
identity formation have possibly been obscured because of the majority of stud-
ies reliance’ on overall identity status or particular identity-related domains as a
measure of identity development (Meeus, 1996).
Although the majority of studies indicate that attachment is more important for
women than for men in adolesence, the particular developmental trends in identity
development for men and women are less clear. The extent to which attachment to
parents facilitates identity development in adolescents is possibly confounded by
the experiencing of different attachment relationships with mother and father. Al-
though some studies did measure attachment to mother and father separately, few
related such attachment relationships to identity development. Furthermore, most
studies relied on overall identity categories based on Marcia’s conceptualization
of identity development. These categories are composed of different combinations
of levels of exploration and commitment. Utilization of overall identity status cat-
egories may obscure trends in exploration and commitment in identity formation
as they relate to parental attachment (Meeus, 1996). In fact, the investigation of
exploration and commitment by themselves may reveal more progressive devel-
opmental trends (Meeus, 1996). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to inves-
tigate adolescent women and men’s attachment to their mother and father while
also considering their relationship on identity-related constructs of exploration and
commitment. Based on previous research it was hypothesized that females’ levels
of commitment would be predicted by attachment relationships whereas men’s
commitment levels would be unrelated.

METHOD

Participants

The cross-sectional sample consisted of 100 Freshmen who completed sur-

veys during the beginning of their Spring semester. The participants included
40 males (39.2%) and 60 females (60.8%) and ranged in age from 17 to 20 years
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378 Samuolis, Layburn, and Schiaffino

(M = 18.3 years). The majority of participants (75.9) lived in on-campus housing

or off-campus (not with family) housing. Nearly 83.2% of the participants were
caucasian/non-Hispanic, 8.8% Hispanic/Latino, 3.9% Black or African American,
and 2% Asian/Pacific Islander. None of the participants were married. Religious
affiliation of the participants included Catholic (73.5%), Episcopalian (6.9%),
Lutheran (1%), Methodist (1%), and other (6.9%). Participants reported that their
parents were either still married (70.6%) or divorced or separated (17.6%).
The modal education attainment for participants’ fathers (61.8%) and for mothers
(61%) was a college degree or higher.

Measures

Attachment

Parental Attachment was measured with the Continued Attachment Scale—

Parent version (CAS – Mother and CAS – Father) (Berman, 1988; Berman et al.,
1994). The CAS—Parent Version assesses the frequency of spontaneous thoughts
about the parent as well as curiosity, efforts to make contact, and subjective long-
ing for the parent (Berman et al., 1994). The theoretical basis of the measure
is drawn from Bowlby’s model (Bowlby, 1969, 1982) of attachment and separa-
tion behaviors (Berman et al., 1994). Sample items include the following: “How
often do things remind you of your mother/father, trigger thoughts about him/her?
“During the past 2 weeks, how often have you thought about your mother/father?”
“How curious are you about your mother’s/father’s life?” “How often do you try
to have contact with them (letters, phone calls, or face to face?” and “How much
do you miss your mother/father?” Internal consistency reliability for the CAS –
Father and CAS – Mother has been documented as .80 and .74 respectively, with
CAS – Mother and CAS – Father correlated .67 ( p < .001) (Berman et al., 1994).
Correlation coefficients of .85 for CAS – Mother and .82 for the CAS – Father
reflect test-retest reliability over a 4-week period (Berman et al., 1994). Berman
et al. (1994) also reported that “the measure is consistent with other measures
of attachment, especially those tapping emotional closeness, support, and desire
for continued close involvement” (p. 178). Internal reliability coefficients for the
current sample were .85 and .84 for CAS – Mother and CAS – Father respectively.

Identity

Identity was measured using the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ)
developed by Balistreri et al. (1995). The measure has been theoretically derived
from Marcia’s conceptualization of the exploration and commitment domains and
their utility in classifying individuals into 1 of 4 identity statuses: identity achieve-
ment, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion (Marcia, 1966). Previous identity
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Identity Development and Attachment 379

measures such as those developed by Marcia (1964), Grotevant and Cooper (1985),
and Grotevant and Adams (1984) served as sources for an item pool. The EIPQ
was derived from these measures in an attempt to create an identity measure that
would distinguish between the dimensions of exploration and commitment instead
of a reliance on identity status categories (Balistreri et al., 1995). The EIPQ is a
32 item questionnaire assessing levels of exploration and commitment in the areas
of occupation, religion, politics, values, family, friendships, dating, and sex roles
(Balistreri et al., 1995). Items are answered based on a 6-point likert-type scale
ranging from “strongly agree” rated as a 6 to “strongly disagree” rated as a 1.
The measure yields summed total scores each for exploration and commitment as
well as a means for classification into Marcia’s original identity status categories if
desired. However, given that the scale contains 4 items (2 items tapping exploration
and 2 items tapping commitment) for each of the 8 domains outlined earlier, the in-
strument does not allow for analyses on the separate domains. In the validation sam-
ple alpha coefficients were .75 for commitment and .76 for exploration (Balistreri
et al., 1995). Confirmatory factor analysis showed a relatively high goodness-of-fit
for the 2-factor model, and test-retest and internal consistency coefficients were
moderately high (Balistreri et al., 1995). Internal reliability coefficients for the
current sample were .73 and .76 for exploration and commitment respectively.

Procedure

College students were asked to complete the measures after signing informed
consent forms. The data was collected during Spring semester Freshmen advising
meetings by graduate students in Psychology at the university.
Missing data for the CAS—Parent version were handled by excluding
cases where more than 15% of the answers for that scale (CAS – Mother or
CAS – Father) were missing and using the subject’s mean when less than 15% of
the answers for that scale were missing. Missing data for the EIPQ were replaced
by the subject’s mean of that domain (exploration or commitment) when 70% of
the relevant questions were answered, and excluded when less than 70% were
answered.

RESULTS

Correlational analyses were run to investigate the bivariate relationships of

attachment to parents and the identity-related constructs of exploration and com-
mitment (see Table I). The results showed that for both men and women attachment
to mother was related to attachment to father. For women, attachment to mother
and attachment to father were both associated with commitment, whereas no such
associations existed for men. As expected, commitment and exploration were neg-
atively related for both men and women.
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380 Samuolis, Layburn, and Schiaffino

Table I. Pearson Product Moment Correlations: Attachment and Identity Variables

Variable 1 2 3 4

Females
1. Attachment to mother 1.00
2. Attachment to father .69∗∗ 1.00
3. Exploration −.03 −.14 1.00
4. Commitment .27∗ .24∗ −.39∗∗ 1.00
Males
1. Attachment to mother 1.00
2. Attachment to father .69∗∗ 1.00
3. Explore −.17 −.09 1.00
4. Commitment .22 .14 −.47∗∗ 1.00
∗p < .05; ∗∗ p < .01.

To explore differences in commitment and exploration for men and women,

t-tests for equality of means were run. The mean difference for men and women on
the variable explore was significant (t = −3.06, df = 100, p < .003). Similarly,
a significant difference between women and men on the variable commitment
was found (t = −2.32, df = 100, p < .02) (see Table II). The results indicated
that females had significantly higher levels of exploration and significantly higher
levels of commitment than did the men in this sample.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the
extent to which levels of commitment and exploration were explained by the pre-
dictors of gender, attachment to mother, and attachment to father. The full model
predicted 12% of the variance in the variable commitment (F = 4.30, p < .01)
and predicted 12% of the variance in exploration (F = 4.01, p < .01). An exam-
ination of the individual predictors of the dependent variable exploration reveals
that gender, in this case being female, is the most salient predictor. In an examina-
tion of the contributions of the individual predictors (see Table III) it can be seen
that female status and attachment to mother together were related to commitment
at a statistically significant level, whereas the addition of the predictor attachment
to father detracts from the overall significance.

Table II. Independent Samples t-Tests for Equality of Means: Levels of Explore and
Commitment
Means
Variable t value df Sig. (2-tailed) Males Females

Explore −3.06 100 .00∗∗ 60.28 65.92

Commitment −2.32 100 .02∗ 57.40 62.05
∗p < .05; ∗∗ p < .01.
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Identity Development and Attachment 381

Table III. Predicting Exploration and Commitment from Gender and Attachment to
Mother and Father
Variable β B t Sig.

Exploration
Model 1
Gender .31 5.98 3.23 .00∗∗
Model 2
Gender .36 6.83 3.49 .00∗∗
Attachment to mother −.13 −.23 −1.24 .22
Model 3
Gender .36 6.86 3.45 .00∗∗
Attachment to mother −.09 −.15 −.58 .56
Attachment to father −.06 −.11 −.45 .65
Commitment
Model 1
Gender .23 4.71 2.31 .02∗
Model 2
Gender .13 2.72 1.29 .20
Attachment to mother .27 .54 2.66 .01∗∗
Model 3
Gender .13 2.69 1.27 .21
Attachment to mother .22 .44 1.55 .13
Attachment to father .07 .14 .52 .60
∗p < .05; ∗∗ p < .01.

DISCUSSION

In the transition to college, adolescents are faced with the tasks of estab-
lishing an identity and renegotiating relationships with caregivers. The renewed
interest in understanding the confluence between identity development and at-
tachment relationships in adolescence has sparked numerous research efforts to
further understand these processes. Some studies have revealed that attachment
to parents mediates identity development (Benson et al., 1992; Lapsley et al.,
1990) while other studies have found that attachment to parents may hinder nor-
mative exploration and commitment processes involved in identity development
(Fullwinder-Bush and Jacobvitz, 1993; Schultheiss and Blustein, 1994). Further-
more, developmental trends have been potentially obscured by the use of overall
identity categories (Meeus, 1996) and the failure to assess attachment to mother
and attachment to father separately in some studies.
In an effort to address such issues in the literature, this study explored the
role of attachment to mother and attachment to father on the identity-related con-
structs of exploration and commitment. While attachment to mother and attachment
to father were measured separately, their high intercorrelation for both men and
women in this study is a common finding in existing research (Schultheiss and
Blustein, 1994). The relationship between attachment to mother and commitment
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382 Samuolis, Layburn, and Schiaffino

for women, however, supports the logic of measuring attachment to parents sepa-
rately, considering no such association existed for attachment to father for either
men or women.
This association between females’ levels of commitment in identity-related
domains and their relationship with their mother coincides with existing research,
where it has often been associated with a premature commitment to certain values
as a result of lack of normative exploration in some identity domains (Fullwinder-
Bush and Jacobvitz, 1993; Schultheiss and Blustein, 1994a). In this study, how-
ever, the indication that women had higher levels of both commitment and explo-
ration than the men in this sample suggests that their attachment relationship was
beneficial for identity development. Although other studies used overall identity
categories, support does exist for this interpretation (Benson et al., 1992). The ab-
sence of a connection between identity-related processes and parental attachment
relationships for the men in this sample is well in line with research suggesting men
and women vary in their need for connectedness and independence (Holmbeck and
Wandrei, 1993). Perhaps the examination of exploration and commitment scores,
as opposed to identity categories, helps to elucidate such potential developmental
trends that otherwise would have been obscured in the categorization process.
Females’ higher levels of exploration, although a positive finding well sup-
ported by current theory on feminine psychosocial development (Gilligan, 1982),
is rare in the research literature. This finding adds to the growing theoretical trend
that indicates that females’ identity development occurs in the context of relation-
ships characterized by connectedness (Gilligan, 1982) as opposed to traditional
ideas that identity is achieved as a result of individuation (Erikson, 1968). Fur-
thermore, it suggests that adolescents’ thinking about parents and frequency in
contact, as measured by the attachment scale used in this study, may be healthy
and beneficial for identity development, whereas previously, in some cases height-
ened levels of attachment have been associated with emotional distress (Berman
and Sperling, 1991) and poorer adjustment to college (Rice and Whaley, 1994).
Adolescents’ scores on the identity-related construct of commitment are best
explained by the combination of gender and attachment to mother in this study.
Existing research indicates that attachment to mother is usually higher than attach-
ment to father and is predictive of levels of identity achievement for both genders
(Benson et al., 1992). In the current study, perhaps females’ connectedness to
their mothers facilitated the normative exploration and commitment processes.
Although this was anticipated, it is unclear as to why the same association did not
exist with the variable exploration, especially considering females had similarly
high levels on that variable as well.
In light of the saliency of attachment relationships and identity development
in adolescence, these findings have various implications for college counselors
and student services aimed at facilitating college adjustment and identity develop-
ment. The findings add to the growing belief that continued parental involvement
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Identity Development and Attachment 383

can be healthy for an adolescent and may serve as the “secure base” as Bowlby
(1969/82) and Ainsworth (1982) suggested. Therefore, college counselors treating
clients experiencing homesickness, reactions to parental separation, and identity
choices may find that the results of this study offer important considerations for
their treatment and assessment decisions. Similarly, the normative exploration that
occurs in college and facilitates healthy identity achievement should be fostered in
a way that doesn’t necessitate severing of ties and commonalities with parents. Re-
search further exploring potential developmental trends in attachment and identity
development processes would offer much to our understanding of the adolescent
cohort and certainly aid university professionals in their development of student
services.

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